Frans Michael Franzén (9 February 1772 – 14 August 1847) was a Swedish- Finnish poet and clergyman. He served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Härnösand.

Biography

Franzén was born in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

(),

Northern Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia (; ) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. The easternmost corner of the region between ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(now part of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

). At thirteen he entered the Royal Academy of Turku, where he attended the lectures of Henrik Gabriel Porthan (1739–1804), a pioneer in the study of Finnish history and folklore. He graduated in 1789, and became ''eloquentiae docens'' in 1792. Three years later he started on a tour through

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, returning in 1796 to accept the office of university librarian at

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

in Finland. In 1801 he became professor of history and ethics, in 1808 he was elected a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

and in 1815 a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. He was a member of Pro Fide et Christianismo, a Christian education society. Finland was ceded by Sweden to Russia in 1809 after the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

, and Franzén relocated to

Kumla Kumla is a locality and the seat of Kumla Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with a population of 21,640 as of 2018. Geography Kumla is situated roughly 15 kilometres south of neighbouring city Örebro, and is connected to its much larger nei ...

, Sweden, where he was appointed parish priest in the

diocese of Strängnäs The Diocese of Strängnäs () is a part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden and has its seat in Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, south of Lake Mälaren. The diocese is made up of the two provinces Närke and Södermanland (except for eastern S ...

(1810), minister of the Klara Church in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

(1824) and Bishop of Härnösand (1831). In Härnösand, he got to know Carl Olof Rosenius, seeing him as a promising preacher. Revivalist preacher Pehr Brandell worked as Franzén's assistant and after his death was defended by Franzén. Franzén died in 1847 in

Härnösand Härnösand () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 25,012 inhabitants in 2023. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just ...

, Sweden.

Personal life

Franzén was married three times; in 1799 to Margareta Elisabet Roos, in 1807 to Sophia Christina Wester, in 1831 to Christina Elisabeth Arvedsson. Franzén's son-in-law poet and historian Anders Abraham Grafström (1790–1870) served alongside him in the Swedish Academy and was Franzén's biographer. Franzén died in the parish of Säbrå in Västernorrland.

Works

From the autumn of 1793, when his ''Till en ung Flicka and Menniskans anlete'' were inserted by Kellgren in the ''Stockholmspost'', Franzén grew in popular favour by means of many minor poems of singular simplicity and truth, such as ''Till Selma'', ''Den gamle knekten'', ''Riddar St Göran'', ''De Små blommorna'', ''Modren vid vaggan'', ''Nyårsmorgonen'' and ''Stjernhimmelen''. His songs ''Goda gasse glaset töm'', ''Sörj ej den gryende dagen förut'', ''Champagnevinet'' and ''Beväringssång'' were widely sung, and in 1797 he won the prize of the Swedish Academy by his ''Sång öfver grefve Filip Creutz''. After 1797, his muse, touched with the academic spirit, grew more reflective and didactic. His longer works, as ''Emili eller en afton i Lappland'', and the epics ''Svante Sture eller mötet vid Alvastra'', ''Kolumbus eller Amerikas upptäckt'' and ''Gustaf Adolf i Tyskland'' (the last two incomplete), though rich in beauties of detail, are far inferior to his shorter pieces.Frans Michael Franzén
375 humanists – 18 May 2015. Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki

Editions

The poetical works of Franzén are collected under the title ''Skaldestycken'' (7 vols., 1824–1861); new ed., ''Samlade dikter'', with a biography by A. A. Grafström (1867–1869); also a selection (''Valda dikter'') in 2 vols. (1871). His prose writings, ''Om svenska drostniningar'' (Åbo, 1798; Örebro, 1823), ''Skrifter i obunden stil'', vol. i. (1835), ''Predikningar'' (5 vols., 1841–1845) and ''Minnesteckningar'', prepared for the Academy (3 vols., 1848–1860), are marked by faithful portraiture and purity of style.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franzen, Frans Michael 1772 births 1847 deaths People from Oulu Swedish-speaking Finns Writers from Northern Ostrobothnia Swedish poets Swedish male writers Finnish poets in Swedish Members of the Swedish Academy Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Bishops of Härnösand Swedish Lutheran hymnwriters 19th-century Swedish writers 19th-century Finnish poets Finnish Lutheran hymnwriters 19th-century male writers Finnish emigrants to Sweden