Agnes Hamilton had a central position in Uppsala's cultural life in the mid-19th century. She was the daughter of Erik Gustaf Geijer and Anna Lisa Liljebjörn. Hamilton was also a close friend of Helena Nyblom.
Agnes Hamilton married Adolf Hamilton, who for a time was governor of Uppsala.
One of the Hamiltons' children, Anna Hamilton Geete, became a writer and wrote the memoir I solnedgången (4 volumes 1910-1914), which depicted the last decade of Erik Gustaf Geijer's life.
Gunilla Bergsten was an associate professor of literature and devoted herself mainly to German literature, both in academic and popular science circles.
In 1963, she defended her thesis Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus, which attracted considerable international attention. It came to mean a great deal for Thomas Mann research because Bergsten skillfully unraveled the structure of Mann's novel construction while presenting extensive, previously unknown source material.
Gunilla Bergsten was also for many years theater reviewer in Upsala Nya Tidning.
Adolph Törneros was born in Eskilstuna on Christmas Eve 1794. At the age of 12 he began to earn a living as a private tutor and was enrolled at Uppsala University in 1812, later becoming professor of aesthetics in 1829 and of Latin in 1832.
Törneros spent most of his life as an academic teacher of Latin and in the literary circle of Geijer and Atterbom, who were among his closest friends.
Törneros is one of the foremost letter-writers in Swedish literature and was one of the foremost travel writers of his time. From the city of learning, Törneros longed every spring for the countryside, where from spring to autumn equinox, in his many letters, he described the impressions of his travels in the central Swedish summer landscape around Lake Mälaren.
The landscapes and environments are drawn with great detail, and the adventures and hardships are described in particularly lively and vivid language. In a letter to his mother dated December 29, 1828, he describes his walk from his home to the Geijer family at half past six on Christmas Eve 1828:
"The snow creaked harshly under the galoshes - a twenty-degree chill bit like a shark at the tip of the nose and earlobes and fingertips - the starry sky stared down with grim eyes over the earth, which was dressed in white as if for the weekend - Orion, just climbed out of the southeast, sparkled so that one seemed to hear it - the moon [sic] was still lying and tumbling in the tidal waters, but splashed up unseen a cascade of rays."
Adolph Törneros was described as outwardly gangly, with a slender birdlike profile. His friend Atterbom found "in the quick mobility of the figure and the flying speed of the gait, an unmistakable impression of a bird".
Törneros spent his last Christmas with the Atterbom family. Törneros then fell ill and died at home three weeks later of what was described as a form of typhus. Geijer said:
"He had too little ballast, so he flew away from us".
Image description: Portrait of Adolph Törneros. Unknown master, oil painting from the 1830s. Photo: UUBThe image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
Lotten von Kræmer grew up in the governor's family at Uppsala Castle. There she was exposed to the glamorous social life of Uppsala Romanticism, which included people such as Malla Silfverstolpe, Atterbom and Wennerberg.
Von Kræmer herself made her debut in 1863 with the collection Dikter and also published travelogues and plays. She also became friends and got to know Thekla Knös and Ann Margret Holmgren.
Lotten von Kræmer took a radical position on women's and peace issues, participated in public debate and supported the women's movement financially. She established the first female scholarship for female students at Uppsala University.
Kræmer also showed his generosity towards Fredrika Bremerförbundet, Handarbetets vänner, Östermalms arbetsstuga för fattig barn and Föreningen för kvinnans rösträtt i Stockholm.
Kræmer moved to Östermalm in Stockholm in the 1870s and lived there until his death. The house was donated to Samfundet De Nio, which von Kræmer established by bequeathing most of his fortune to it. Samfundet De Nio, which is still in existence, is a literary academy with the task of supporting Swedish literature by awarding prizes to Swedish authors.
Image description: Lotten von Kræmer, year unknown. Photo: From the archives of the De Nios Society. [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
After the father Gustav, who was vicar in Västeråker and Dalby, died in 1828, the mother Alida and daughter Thekla moved to Uppsala. They settled in the house at the northern end of Östra Ågatan, which is now part of the Fjellstedt School premises under the name Kavaljeren.
Thekla Knös and her mother became known in Uppsala as 'de små knösarna' (the little Knöses) and participated diligently in the social and literary life of the city. Thekla Knös gave language lessons and the 'little Knöses' also held literary salons in their home with the participation of Geijer, Atterbom, Järta, Törneros and Wennerberg. Knös also made translations, which was an income for many upper-middle-class women in the 19th century.
At Atterbom's urging, Knös competed in the Academy with the poetry cycle Ragnar Lodbrok and won the Swedish Academy's Grand Prize in 1851. Several of her works were also set to music.
She also published Fotografier över det forna Uppsalivet, the book Året, with the subtitle Teckningar ur barndomslivet, and storybooks and other books for children.
After her mother's death in 1855, Knös suffered from a deep depression, and what kept her going was her religiousness and her friends. She stayed with various friends and relatives and was also looked after by Malla Silfverstolpe for a time. However, her mental health deteriorated and Thekla Knös died after 16 years in Växjö Hospital.
The following example of Knö's poetry is taken from the poem 'Desire in the drawing room' from Dikter, Band 1-2, 1852-1853.
Alas, the hall was now beaming.
Alas, it was hastily changed
To the quiet, shady valley.
Where happy hours have fled!
O! be the soft couch
My dear, mossy stone!
And the carpet- floral plan,
And the lamp-the glow of the evening sun!
Oh, to be a whispering tern
A tender and shimmering birch;
Be a bowing gentleman - how nice!
A fir tree whispering dark!
The music - the birds chirping
And the murmur - the song of the waves!
But - in the lounge I am sitting,
And time makes me long.
Magdalena (Malla) Silfverstolpe was left motherless at an early age and grew up with her mother's relatives on the family estate Edsberg. She and her husband David Silfverstolpe moved to Uppsala in 1812 and quickly settled into the stimulating academic and white environment.
After her husband's death in 1819, Silfverstolpe began to 'hold a salon' on Friday evenings for the higher society of the time, attended by people from the cultural and scientific circles. The salon was held in Uppsalahemmet at Stora torget, where the Romantics Geijer and Atterbom, among others, gathered.
They offered the opportunity to listen to literature read aloud and to music. Debates were held, songs were sung and letters were read. Both Malla Silfverstolpe and Thekla Knös, who held the salon herself, have described these meetings in their respective diaries.
Malla Silfverstolpe had a knack for collecting and inviting talent, and the home hosted several famous people, such as Jenny Lind, H.C. Andersen and C.J.L. Almqvist. Malla Silfverstolpe took part in the controversy surrounding Almqvist's book Det går an (1839) with the countersign Månne det går an? (1840).
Erik Gustaf Geijer, one of Uppsala's greatest cultural personalities of all time, was born in Ransäter in Värmland and came to Uppsala as a student in 1799. As an informant, he spent 1809-1810 in England where he carefully observed social and cultural life.
Geijer's understanding of the intellectuals' criticism increased during a trip to Germany in 1825, and he began to take a more realistic approach to the fantasies of Romanticism. He expressed this in Minnen (1834).
Geijer realized the importance of the middle class in society and the legitimacy of its demands for freedom, and as a result of the changed social analysis there was a political reorientation away from conservatism. He announced this 'apostasy' in 1838.
Geijer's ability to see and formulate the essential contexts of his time made him a strong voice in opinion-forming. Among his most significant works are Svea Rikes hävder (1825), which depicts Sweden's oldest history, and History of the Swedish People (1832-1836).
Geijer was a brilliant lecturer, a profound scholar and one of the leaders of the literary circles in Uppsala in the 1830s. He was also at the center of musical life, composing songs, piano sonatas, string quartets and other instrumental music.
Erik Gustaf Geijer was a professor of history from 1817 to 1847 and became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1824. He lived at Svartbäcksgatan 17 and then moved to Övre Slottsgatan 2. In 1846 Geijer moved to Stockholm.
The following is taken from the poem "Natthimmelen" from Samlade skrifter, Band 1-13 1849-1855.
Alone I progress on my path,
longer and longer the road stretches;
Alas, my goal is hidden in the distance.
Daylight is fading. Space becomes nocturnal.
Soon only the eternal stars I see.
But I do not complain about the day,
I am not dismayed by the coming night;
for of the love that goes through the world,
a streak also fell into my soul.
