Frans Michael Franzén painted by Johan Gustaf Sandberg in 1823.

Frans Michael Franzén (9 February 1772 – 14 August 1847) was a Swedish and Finnish poet. Franzén was born in Uleåborg (Finnish: Oulu), Ostrobothnia, Finland, which at the time was an integral part of Sweden. At thirteen he entered the Åbo Royal Academy, 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, Germany, France and England, returning in 1796 to accept the office of university librarian at Åbo (Finnish: Turku) in Finland. In 1801 he became professor of history and ethics, in 1808 he was elected a member of the Swedish Academy and in 1815 a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Finland separated from Sweden to Russia in 1809 after the Finnish War. Franzén relocated to Kumla, Sweden, where he was appointed parish priest in the diocese of Strängnäs (1810), minister of the Klara Church in Stockholm (1824) and bishop of Härnösand (1831). Franzén's son-in-law was Anders Abraham Grafström, the poet and historian. Grafström, who served alongside him in the Swedish Academy, was Franzén's biographer.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] External links

• Media related to Frans Michael Franzén at Wikimedia Commons