Everything about Carl Gustaf Tessin totally explained
Count Carl Gustaf Tessin (
September 5,
1695 –
January 7,
1770), was a
Swedish politician and son of
architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger.
Life
Carl Gustaf Tessin was born in
Stockholm. Half of his pedigree consisted of burghers (on his father's side) and the other half(his mother's) of the highest nobility (even princely ancestry). This genealogy led some to regard him as trash and a social climber compared to real aristocracy. On the other hand, his paternal line had shown high talent artistically and aesthetically; designers, architects; and even some political talent. And, one of his maternal great-great-grandmothers had been a born princess-duchess of Brunswick-Luneburg.
He began his public career in
1723, at which time he was a member of the Holstein faction, which promoted the claims of the young
Duke Carl Frederick of Holstein to the Swedish throne. In
1725 Tessin was appointed ambassador at
Vienna, and in that capacity counteracted the plans of the Swedish chancellor, Count
Arvid Horn, for joining the anti-Russian
Hanoverian Alliance.
During the
riksdags of
1726–
27 and
1731, Tessin fiercely opposed the government, and his wit, eloquence, and imposing presence made him one of the foremost protagonists of the party subsequently known as "
The Hats". From
1735 to
1736 he was again Swedish ambassador at Vienna. During the riksdag of
1738 he was elected
marshal of the
Riksdag of the Estates and contributed more than anyone else to the overthrow of the
Horn administration the same year.
On the division of the spoil of
patronage he chose for himself the post of ambassador extraordinary at
Paris, and from
1739 to
1742 delighted
Versailles with his brilliant qualities of grand seigneur, at the same time renewing the traditional alliance between
France and Sweden which had been interrupted for more than sixty years. His political ability, however, was by no means commensurate with his splendid social qualities. It was his sanguine credulity which committed the Hats to their rash and unconsidered war with
Russia in
1741–
42, though in fairness it must be added that Tessin helped them out of their difficulties again by his adroitness as party leader and his stirring eloquence. He gained his seat in the senate as a reward for his services on this occasion. In 1743 Tessin attempted to reconcile the long outstanding differences between Sweden and
Denmark in a special mission to
Copenhagen.
In
1744 he was sent at the head of an extraordinary embassade to
Berlin to escort to
Stockholm Frederick the Great's sister,
Louisa Ulrika, the chosen bride of the Swedish crown prince,
Adolphus Frederick. As
överhovmarskalk of the young court, Tessin speedily captivated the royal pair. He also succeeded in extricating the crown prince from the influence of the Russian
Empress Elizabeth of Russia, to whom Adolphus Frederick owed his throne when he became
king of Sweden in
1751, thereby essentially contributing to the maintenance of the independence of Sweden.
From
1746 to
1752 Tessin was president of the
chancellery, as the Swedish prime minister was called in those days. His system aimed at a rapprochement with Denmark with the view of counterbalancing the influence of Russia in the north. It was a dignified and prudent policy, but his endeavour to consolidate it by promoting a matrimonial alliance between the two courts alienated the Swedish
crown prince, who, as a
Holsteiner, nourished an ineradicable hatred of everything Danish. As, moreover, on the accession of Adolphus Frederick in 1751, Tessin refused to countenance any extension of the royal prerogative, the rupture between him and the court became final. On the occasion of the coronation (1752) he resigned the premiership, and in
1754 the governorship of the young crown prince Gustavus also, spending the rest of his days at his estate at
Åkerö, where he died.
Characterization
Tessin was one of the most brilliant personages of his day, and the most prominent representative of French culture in Sweden. He was also a fine orator.
Principal works by Tessin
- Tessin och Tessiniana (1st ed. Stockholm, 1819), autobiographical extracts from Tessin's voluminous manuscript Memoirs in 29 volumes.
K. G. Tessins Dagbok (Stockholm, 1824), further extracts from the same.
En gammal mans bref til en ung Prins (Stockholm, 1753; English editions, 1755 and 1756), addressed to his pupil, afterwards Gustavus III.Further Information
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