| Birth: | Jan. 13, 1746 | | Death: | Mar. 29, 1792 | 
Swedish Monarch. Born in Stockholm, the eldest son of the future King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica. He was betrothed to Princess Sophia Magdalene of Denmark when he was five and married her fifteen years later, in 1766. He was an intelligent and cultured advocate of the Enlightenment and a Francophile; though not highly educated, he was extremely well read and multilingual. He succeeded to the throne in 1771 after the sudden death of his father. Unhappy with the Crown's subjugation to the Riksdag, which he considered to be corrupt, Gustav and his allies seized control of all key fortresses and secured the support of the military. Six months after ascending the throne, Gustav reasserted royal power over the Riksdag alienating the nobility. He founded the Gustavian style and patronized theater, literature, art, music, and opera. The Swedish Academy for Language, the Academy for Literature, History and Antiquities, the Academy of Music, and the Academy of Art were all founded during Gustav's reign. He built up the navy to become one of the most formidable in Europe and issued currency a realization ordinance in 1776, introduced free trade, amended the poor laws, regulated horrific burial practices by decree and extended religious toleration. Gustav III was the first head of state in the world to recognize the new United States of America in 1777. His controversial war with his cousin, Catherine the Great of Russia, saved Sweden from becoming her vassal but was unpopular with her allies among Swedish nobles. To personally defend his vital western port of Gothenburg from a Danish attack, Gustav rode down there so fast that his retinue couldn't keep up, and he paid a surprise visit to his in-laws in Copenhagen to confront the belligerency. As a result of a widespread conspiracy among the kingdom's aristocrats, Gustav was shot in the back at a midnight masquerade at the Royal Opera in Stockholm by J. J. Anckarström. The gunman was flogged and beheaded for the crime, while his co-conspirators were treated leniently by Gustav's brother, the future Carl XIII. The dramatic assassination became the basis of Giuseppe Verdi's opera 'Un Ballo in Maschera.' Two compendia of his letters have been published, in French in 1986 and in Swedish in 1992. (bio by: Iola)
Family links:
Parents:
Adolph Frederick (1710 - 1771)
Louise Ulrica (1720 - 1782)
Search Amazon for Gustav III | | | Burial:
Riddarholmskyrkan (Riddarholm Church)
Riddarholmskyrkan
Stockholms Lan, Sweden |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: K
Record added: Mar 14, 2004
Find A Grave Memorial# 8509083 |
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