Agnes Hamilton had a central position in Uppsala's cultural life in the mid-1800s. 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 period was governor of Uppsala.
One of the children of the Hamiltons, Anna Hamilton Geete, became a writer and wrote the memoirs at Sunset (4 bands 1910-1914). In it, Erik Gustaf Geijer's last decade of life was portrayed.
Gunilla Bergsten was an associate professor in literary studies and mainly devoted to German literature, both in academic and popular science circles.
In 1963 she defended her thesis, Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus , who attracted a great deal of international attention. It came to mean a lot to Thomas Mann research, because it skilfully sorted out the structure of Mann's novel design while presenting a comprehensive, previously unknown source material.
Gunilla was also theater critic for many years in the paper Upsala Nya Tidning.
Adolph Törneros was born in Eskilstuna on Christmas Eve 1794. At the age of 12 he began to work as a private teacher. In 1812 he began his studies at the Uppsala University and later became professor of Aesthetics in 1829 and in Latin 1832.
Törneros spent most of his life as an academic teacher in Latin and was a part of the literary circle around Geijer and Atterbom, which was his closest friends.
Törneros is one of the greatest letter writers of Swedish literature and was one of his time's greatest travel writer. Törneros longed every spring out of the countryside, where he in his many letters, described the impressions from the travels of the Swedish landscape around Lake Mälaren.
Landscapes and environments are described with extreme detail and the adventures are portrayed with a particularly lively language. In a letter to his mother, on the 29 of December 1828, the hike from the home of the Geijer family he describes, at half past seven on Christmas Eve 1828:
"the Snow cracked under my boots – the twenty-degree cold bit like a shark after my nose tip, ears and fingers – the star filled sky stared with grim eyes down over it as well as to the Earth, dressed in white for the weekend – Orion, just rised out of the southeast, sparkling one seemed to hear it – the moon was still and behind the clouds, but nontheless, you saw its rays.
Adolph Törneros was described as lanky, with a slight bird profile. His friend Atterbom found in Törneros' quick movement him to unmistakable resemble a bird.
His last Christmas Törneros spent with the Atterbom family. Sheubsequently, Törneros fell ill and died in his home three weeks later in what was described as a form of typhoid. Geijer said:
"He had too little ballast, therefore he flew away from us".
Image description: Portrait of Adolph Törneros. Unknown master, oil painting from the 1830's. Photo: UUB. [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
Lotten von Kræmer grew up in the governor family at Uppsala Castle. There she took part in Uppsala's romantic movement with people such as Malla Silfverstolpe, Atterbom and Wennerberg.
Von Kræmer debuted in 1863 with the Poetry collection and also published travelogues and dramas. She also befriended and got to know Thekla Knös and Ann Margret Holmgren.
Lotten von Kræmer took a radical position in women's and peace issues, took part in the public debate and supported the women's movement financially. She created the first female scholarship for women students at Uppsala University.
She was also generous to the Fredrika Bremer Association, the Friends of the hand work, Östermalms work cabin for poor children and the Association for Women's Suffrage in Stockholm.
Kræmer moved in the 1870s to Östermalm in Stockholm and lived there until her death. The house was donated to the Fellowship of the nine that von Kræmer set up by bequeathing the majority of her wealth to it. The Fellowship of the nine, which still consists, is a literary academy with the task of supporting Swedish literature through prize awards to Swedish authors.
Image description: Lotten von Kræmer, unknown year. Photo: From the archives of the De Nios community. [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
After the father Gustav, who was vicar of Västeråker and Dalby, died in 1828, the mother Alida and her daughter Thekla moved to Uppsala. They settled in the house at the northern end of Östra Ågatan, which is now part of the Fjellstedtska school's premises.
Thekla Knös and her mother came to be known in Uppsala as "the little Knösarna" and participated diligently in the city's social and literary life. Thekla Knös gave language lessons and "The little Knösarna" also held a literary salon in the home with the participation of Geijer, Atterbom, Järta, Törneros and Wennerberg. Knös also made translations, which was an income for several 1900-century women from the upper middle class.
At Atterbom's invitation, Knös competed in the academy with the poem Cycle Ragnar Lodbrok and won the Swedish Academy's grand prize 1851. Several of her works were also tinted.
She also published photographs of the past Uppsala, the bookThe year, with the subheading Drawings from Childhood, as well as fairytale books and other books for children.
After her mother's death in 1855, Knös suffered deep sadness and what kept her up was her religiosity and friends. She was a resident of various friends and relatives and was also taken care of by Malla Silfverstolpe for a period. Her mental health deteriorated however, and Thekla Knös died after 16 years of stay at Växjö Hospital.
The following example of Knös' poetry is taken from the poem "Desire in the auditorium" from Poems, vol. 1-2, 1852–1853.
Ah, the glorious Hall now became.
Alas, it was hastily replaced
To the quiet, shady valley.
Where happy hours have fled!
O! Would be soft the diva
My dear, mossy stone!
And the carpet-floral plan,
and the lamp-the glow of the evening sun!
Ah, would be the whispering Tern
A slim and shimmering birch;
Be bowing Lord-how willingly!-
A spruce that whispered dark!
The music-the chirping of birds
And the Buzz- the flood's song!-
But – in the saloon I sit,
And the time is long for me.
Image description: Thekla Knös, unknown year. Photo: Swedish Biographical dictionary / National Archives. [The image is cropped] Click here for an uncropped image
Magdalena (Malla) Silfverstolpe became an orphan early in her life and grew up with the mother's relatives on the family estate Edsberg. She and her husband David Silfverstolpe moved to Uppsala in 1812 and quickly found themselves in the stimulating academic and weathered environment.
After the death of her husband in 1819, Silfverstolpe began "keeping a salon" on Friday evenings for the higher society of the times where people from the cultural and scientific circles participated. The salon was held in the home at the main square, where among other romantics Geijer and Atterbom gathered.
It offered the opportunity to listen to literature read aloud and music. It was debated, songs were sung and letters read. Both Malla Silfverstolpe and Thekla Knös, who also held salon, have described these meetings in their respective diaries.
Malla Silfverstolpe had an ability to gather and invite talents and in the home several celebrities was received, such as Jenny Lind, H.C. Andersen and C.J.L. Almqvist. Malla Silfverstolpe participated in the feud around Almqvist's book and published a book as a response.
Erik Gustaf Geijer, one of Uppsala's most important cultural personalities, was born at Ransäter in Värmland and came as a student to Uppsala in 1799. As a tutor he resided in 1809–1810 in England, where he attentively observed social and cultural life.
Geijer's understanding of the intellectuals' criticism increased during a trip to Germany in 1825 and against the fantasies of romance he began to take a more realistic stance. This he expressed in memories (1834).
Geijer recognized the importance of the middle class in society and the legitimacy of its requirements for freedom, and as a result of the changed social analysis, a political reorientation was removed from conservatism. This "waste" he announced in 1838.
Geijer's ability to see and formulate essential contexts in his contemporaries made him a strong voice in formation of opinion. His most important works include Svea Rikes Hävder (1825), which portrays Sweden's oldest history and the history of the Swedish folkets historia (1832–1836).
Geijer was a full-gloss lecturer, in-depth scientist and one of the leaders in the literary circles in Uppsala in the 1830s. He was also the center of Music life, and composed songs, piano sonatas, string quartets and other instrumental music.
Erik Gustaf Geijer was professor of history in 1817–1847 and became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1824. He lived on Svartbäcksgatan 17 and then moved to the Övre Slottsgatan 2. In 1846 Geijer moved to Stockholm.
The following is taken from the poem "Night sky" from the Collected Writings, vol. 1-13 1849–1855.
Alone I proceed forth on my path,
Longer and longer stretches the path;
Ah, in the distance, my goal is hidden.
The day itself lowers. Space becomes nocturnal.
Soon only the eternal stars I see.
But I do not complain the fleeing day,
Not me the night terrifies;
For of the love that goes through the world,
Fell also a streak into my soul.
