Carl Gustaf af Leopold

Carl Gustaf af Leopold

Carl Gustaf af Leopold (26 February 1756, Stockholm – 9 November 1829, Stockholm) was a Swedish poet.

Biography

He attained distinction in Swedish letters, his first work to attract wide attention being his Ode on the Birth of the Prince-Royal Gustavus Adolphus (1778). He was appointed private secretary to Gustavus III in 1788 and stood high in the regard of that monarch. His odes on the martial achievements of the Swedes were among his most popular productions, and his tragedies Odin (1790) and Virginia (1902) were highly successful. He attempted all forms of poetry save the epic. In 1799 he was made chancery councillor ( in Swedish; kansliråd ). In 1818 he was appointed State Secretary.

He was a bulwark of French Classicism against the attacks of the Romantic Phosphorists. He has been compared to the German Johann Christoph Gottsched. His Samlade skrifter were published (Vols. I-III, 1800–02; Vols. IV-VI, 1831–33).

Notes

References

•  Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Leopold, Karl Gustaf af". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Leopold, Karl Gustaf af". Encyclopedia Americana.