Robert Fredrik von Kræmer

1791-1880.

County Governor, Member of Parliament.

Robert Fredrik von Kræmer came from Häme in Finland and took part as an officer in the campaign to Germany in 1813 and to Norway in 1814.

He was governor of Uppsala from 1830 to 1862 and, as head of the county, was an undisputed central figure and took a number of important initiatives. Communications were improved through road building, bridge building, dredging of sailing routes and the establishment of steamship companies.

Kræmer also initiated the founding of Ultuna Agricultural Institute and the establishment of Sweden's first cooperative trade in Örsundsbro in 1850.

Kræmer also played a significant role in the development of the city of Uppsala. The city park, the promenade at Flustret and Västgötaspången were created with his help and he was known for his tree plantings, which were mentioned in Gunnar Wennerberg's Gluntarne:

"My goodness, that Kræmer is good for the city. He builds bridges and plants trees."

 

Burial site: 0156-0249

Image description: Robert Fredrik von Kræmer, Stockholm, ca 1870. Photo: W.A Eurenius & P.L Quist / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Cristopher Jacob Boström

1797-1866.

Philosopher.

Christopher Jacob Boström was born in Piteå and became a student in Uppsala in 1815.

From 1842 to 1863, he was professor of practical philosophy in Uppsala and was Sweden's most influential philosopher in the 19th century. He built up a metaphysical system with roots in German and Swedish idealism. Boström was a persuasive lecturer and excelled in speeches.

Boström's so-called rational idealism, with its strong emphasis on the individual's duties in a moral and rational society, came to exert a profound influence on thinking in Sweden in the latter half of the 19th century.

Boströmianism, named after its originator, was the only original philosophical system to emerge in Sweden in the 19th century and, through Boström's disciples, came to dominate Swedish university philosophy throughout the latter part of the 19th century.

His disciples included Sigurd Ribbing, Yngve Sahlin and Axel Nyblaeus. Boström's niece is Ebba Boström, founder of the Samaritan Home. She is also buried in the Old Cemetery.

 

Burial site: 0119-0995

Image description: Christopher Jacob Boström, 1865. Photo: Litografiskt allehanda, fifth edition. Sigrid Flodin's publishing house. / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Olof von Nackreij

1728-1783.

Judge Advocate General, County Governor.

Olof von Nackreij was born in Filipstad and became a student in Uppsala in 1743.

He was an advisor to the Göta Court of Appeal, governor of Halland and Kronoberg County, and became governor of Uppsala County in 1782. In 1778, Nackreij was elevated to the rank of baron and was one of the leaders of the Moderate Party.

The beginning of the baron's letter from 1778. Photo: UUB.

The coat of arms from the baron's letter. Photo: UUB.

Olof von Nackreij died unmarried at Uppsala Castle in 1783, thus concluding his baronial line. Nackreij had requested to be buried in the Poor Cemetery, as it was then called.

 

Burial site: 0112-0610A

Image description: Olof von Nackrei's coat of arms from 1778. Photo: UUBThe image is cropped]
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Anders Gustaf Ekeberg

1767-1813.

Chemist.

Anders Gustaf Ekeberg was the son of shipbuilder Joseph Eric Ekeberg and Hedvig Ulrica Kilberg.

In 1784, Ekeberg enrolled at Uppsala University, where he was taught by Carl Peter Thunberg, among others. After graduation and study trips, Ekeberg became an associate professor of chemistry in 1794.

In 1799, Ekeberg was elected to the Royal Academy of Sciences. In 1802, he discovered the element tantalum (Ta).

An explosion in the early 1800s left Ekeberg blind in one eye.

One of Ekeberg's scientific discoveries was a method for making strong, clear and translucent porcelain. He took the secret of this method to his grave.

His friends carved his name on a stone pillar in the cemetery wall and three words in Latin: Chemico (he was a chemist) Amicitia (friendship) Memor (memory) and the year of his death in Roman letters MDCCCXIII. Photo: Henrik Zetterberg.

The picture shows the Ekeberg Prize awarded by the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center. Photo: TIC.

In recognition of Ekeberg's pioneering work, an award was established in 2017 by the TIC (Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center), to promote the knowledge and understanding of tantalum. The award was named the Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize ("Ekeberg Prize") in his memory.

 

Burial site: 0101-0030

Image description: Portrait of Anders Gustaf Ekeberg from Mellin, Gustaf Henrik (ed.) 427 porträtter af namnkunniga svenske män och fruntimmer, Stockholm, 1847. Photo: LIBRIS-ID:1579474The image is cropped]
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Johan Bredman

1770-1859.

Astronomer.

Johan Bredman, born in Oviken in Jämtland, became an associate professor of mathematics in 1801 and in 1802 an assistant professor at the observatory.

At that time, the observatory was in such a state that practical work could not be carried out satisfactorily. All the instruments were from Celsius' time and by the end of the 18th century the observatory was considered to be condemned. Bredman was a professor of astronomy from 1811 to 1841 and also a textbook author.

He is mentioned in Wennerberg's Glunterne regarding "another planet whose name not even Bredman knows" (Gluntarne no.3 Uppsala är bäst). Contemporaries said that Bredman was a skilled lecturer and interested teacher.

Johan Bredman was Norrland's first inspector and benefactor, and was honored with the nation's largest tombstone. He bequeathed money to the observatory and to scholarships for Norrlanders and other charitable causes.

 

Burial site: 0119-0995

Image description: Johan Bredman, oil painting from 1841 by Carl Staaff. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Fredric Mallet

1728-1797.

Astronomer, mathematician.

Fredric Mallet enrolled at Uppsala University in 1745, majoring in astronomy and mathematics.

In 1754, Mallet embarked on an educational tour of Europe, a journey that lasted 28 months. After his return, he was appointed observer at the Uppsala Observatory on Svartbäcksgatan in the St. Per district, a position he held for 16 years.

By the end of the 18th century, the Celsius Observatory had fallen into disrepair, but the building still stands in central Uppsala. Its location in the middle of the city did not make it particularly suitable for observations. The instruments trembled as the horse-drawn carriages moved along Svartbäcksgatan and the view was obscured by chimney smoke.

Astronomical Observatory, Uppsala. Engraver Fredrik Akrel. Illustration from Busser, Johan B., Utkast till beskrifning om Upsala, del 2, Uppsala 1769, p. 112. The house was completed in 1741. Photo: UUB.

The building in 2019, which at the time of the photo housed a goldsmith and various university departments. Photo: Henrik Zetterberg.

In 1769, Mallet was commissioned by the Academy of Sciences to study the transit of Venus from Pello in the Torne Valley. Venusian transits, when Venus passes over the solar disk, used to be important from a scientific point of view. By studying the passage of Venus from several different locations on Earth, scientists were able to determine the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

In 1773, Fredric Mallet was appointed Professor of Mathematics, a position he held until 1794.

 

Burial site: 0109-0466

Image description: Portrait of Fredric Mallet. Painting by O. Arenius. Photo: Henrik Zetterberg. [The image is cropped]
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Adolph Murray

1751-1803.

Anatomist, surgeon.

In 1764 Murray enrolled at Uppsala University. At first he devoted himself to botany, but became increasingly interested in anatomy and dissections.

His anatomy studies led to a thesis in 1771, which he defended under Linnaeus' supervision. In 1772 Murray was awarded a doctorate in medicine in Uppsala. After his thesis, Murray embarked on an educational journey in Europe and was appointed professor of anatomy at Uppsala University in 1774.

He returned to Uppsala in 1776 and took up his post. In 1778 Murray became Uppsala's first professor of surgery. In his scientific work he published a number of treatises and many other writings.

A notable contribution in Swedish is Avhandling om anatomiens framsteg i nyare tiden( Treatise on the progress of anatomy in recent times), which constituted his extensive presidential address to the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1794 when he became its president.

Page from lecture notes. Murray is the author. Photo: UUB.

Murray's amputation tools for soft tissue and bone cutting. The picture also shows a treatise by Murray from 1798. Photo: Urban Josefsson, Museum of Medical History.

The Museum of Medical History in Uppsala houses a unique collection of surgical and gynecological instruments collected by Adolph Murray. Letters between Murray and Linnaeus are preserved at Uppsala University.

 

Burial site: 0109-0461A

Image description: Adolph Murray, ca 1787-ca 1835. Engraver, Erik Åkerland. Photo: UUBThe image is cropped]
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Uno von Troil

1746-1803.

Archbishop.

Uno Trolius, later Uno von Troil, was born in Stockholm. After studying theology in Uppsala, von Troil undertook a long trip abroad in Europe in 1770-1773, during which he also visited Iceland. His travel report from there was described in the work Bref rörande resa till Island. The book attracted much attention and was translated into German, English and French.

Von Troil was ordained in 1773 and, thanks to his good relations with Gustav III, made a rapid career. He became an archbishop at the age of 40 and was mainly interested in the care of the poor and education.

von Troil was also keen on general church matters and in 1793 published Förslag till kyrkosånger till kyrkosånger för Svenska församlingen and Förslag till ny kyrkohandbok, both of which were characterized by his efforts to modernize the Swedish language.

As a researcher in church history, he published Skrifter och handlingar till upplysning i svenska kyrko- och reformations-historien (5 volumes, 1790-91).

Uno von Troil's "Autobiography and travel notes" are published in the Swedish memoirs and letters published by Henrik Schück and Oscar Levertin.

von Troil sat at the deathbed of King Gustav III and later preached his funeral sermon.

 

Burial site: 0104-0225

Image description: Uno von Troil, painting Lorens Pasch the Younger. Photo: Selected contemporary images from Admiral Carl Tersmedens memoirs by Ann Margret Holmgren, Stockholm 1925 / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Johan Henrik Schröder

1791-1857.

Archaeologist, numismatist, university librarian.

Already during his student years, Schröder was given the task of assisting in the inventory of Bishop Carl Nordin's large manuscript collection for Uppsala University Library. In 1815 Schröder was awarded a master's degree in philosophy at Uppsala University and a doctorate in literary history.

Schröder was also involved in the work on the editions of the older Swedish manuscripts Scriptores rerum Suecicarum medii aevi (three parts, 1818, 1828, 1871-1876). He was also interested in antiquities and art and made several trips through the country to record collections and archives and to describe ancient remains and documents.

Numismatics was a particular interest of Schröder's, and in 1820 he became head of Uppsala University's coin cabinet and later director of the university's museum of Nordic antiquities. Schröder's knowledge of the book trade led to him also being engaged in the cataloging and expansion of several private libraries.

In 1830, Johan Henrik Schröder became University Librarian in Uppsala and in August 1841 the book collections were transferred from the Gustavianum to the newly built Carolina Rediviva University Library. The library's staff, university and student nation caretakers, teachers and students participated in the cart transportation up Odinslund.

Schröder's contacts with private book collectors and his many acquisition trips in Europe helped to expand Uppsala University Library with a considerable amount of rarities.

 

Burial site: 0104-0247

Image description: Johan Henrik Schröder, oil painting from 1840 by Johan Gustaf Sandberg. Photo: UUBThe image is cropped]
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Måns von Rosenstein

1755-1801.

Military, Rear Admiral.

Måns von Rosenstein, Carl's older brother, became a lieutenant in the army navy in 1774.

Between 1776-1778 he served in the British Navy, taking part in Sir Peter Parker's squadron in the West Indies and witnessing the Battle of Quessant against France. As a French naval officer, Rosenstein took part in the American War of Independence, was captured by his former commander Admiral Parker, and taken to England.

On his return to Sweden in 1783, he became a second major in the army's navy. Rosenstein particularly distinguished himself in the first battle of Svensksund on August 24, 1789. He and his ship Oden managed to hold off the Russian fleet, only to be forced to strike the flag after which he was captured.

At the end of the war in 1790, Rosenstein became a colonel in the army and seven years later a rear admiral.

 

Burial site: 0109-0462A

Image description: Måns von Rosenstein, painting by Per Krafft the Elder. Photo: Swedish Biographical Dictionary / National ArchivesThe image is cropped]
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