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Frans Michael Franzén

Frans Michael Franzén
Born February 9, 1772, Oulu. Died August 14, 1847, Härnösand, Sweden.

Master of Arts, Royal Academy of Turku, 1789
Doctor of Theology, Uppsala University, 1818
Ordained, 1803

Professor of History and Morals, Royal Academy of Turku, 1801–11
Professor of Literary History, Royal Academy of Turku, 1798–1801
Librarian, Royal Academy of Turku, 1795–1811
Docent of Oratory, Royal Academy of Turku, 1792

President, Nyland Regional Students’ Society, 1800–11
Member of the Swedish Academy, 1808

Bishop, Härnösand Diocese, 1831–47
Minister, Klara parish, 1824–34
Minister, 1810–24, Dean, Kumla parish, 1820
Minister, Paimio parish, 1803–10

Honours
Riemumaisteri (An honorary master's title awarded to an individual 50 years after the original degree), Imperial Alexander University, 1840
Riemumaisteri, University of Uppsala, 1839
Lundblad Prize, 1794

Name given to:
Franzénia, formerly part of the University of Helsinki’s premises.
Helsinki: Franzéninkatu street (1901), Franzénin puistikko park (1928), Franzéninaukio square (1990)
Oulu: Franzénin puisto park and the Franzén monument

Photo: WikimediaCommons
Written by Tomas Sjöblom
Translated by Joseph McVeigh

A Precocious talent

The son of a merchant family in Oulu, Frans Michael Franzén showed a talent for literature at an early age. At only thirteen years of age, the precocious lad became a student at the Royal Academy of Turku in 1785. The talented young student received support from many of the leaders of the Academy because they wanted to keep him in the service of the academy.

Upon arrival in Turku, Franzén was taken under the wing of Henrik Gabriel Porthan. At the early age of fourteen, Franzén defended Porthan’s dissertation, De Bircarlis I, which discussed the Pirkkala merchants. Three years later he used the second part of this dissertation to earn a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Thanks to his excellent debating skills, many thought that Franzén had written De Bircarlis II himself. In fact he had defended pro gradu a thesis written by his teacher, a practice which was customary at the time. Franzén also had a Master’s degree conferred on him in 1789.

To become a docent, Franzén defended the work Historiolaorationishumanae, quattuoraetatibusdescripta (1791), which, in keeping with intellectual currents of the time, dealt with the history of human speech. The second part of the work was presented in 1795, when Franzén was also named University Librarian of the Academy.

Professors Jacob Tengström and H. G. Porthan recommended Franzén for the position of Professor of Literary History in 1798. This appointment, as well as Franzén's appointment as Professor of History and Morals in 1801, shows how the leadership wanted to keep the promising young talent in the service of the Academy. Franzén had in fact already expressed a desire to move to Stockholm, if an agreeable post were to present itself.

Frans Michael Franzén in a copperplate engraving by G. Fahlcrantz. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.​
Frans Michael Franzén in a copperplate engraving by G. Fahlcrantz. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.​

Franzén’s first substantial historical work, Om svenska drottningar (‘Of Swedish queens’), was published in 1798. It became very popular among his contemporaries who were interested in history. Thereafter Franzén’s historiographical work mainly focused on lengthy biographies.

Franzén’s work at the Academy was not limited to the production and teaching of science. He actively participated in the Musical Society of Turku and worked in close contact with the Academy to produce Finland’s first newspaper, Åbo Tidningar. During Franzén’s time, the content of the paper shifted to focus more on literature and news.

The question of moving to Stockholm became an issue when Franzén was invited to join the Swedish Academy in 1808. He stayed in Turku, however, until he was appointed dean of the Kumla parish two years later. After that, Franzén stepped down as professor and moved permanently to Sweden, where he was ordained as a minister of the Klara parish in Stockholm in 1824, and later as bishop of Härnösand in 1831. At the time, the diocese comprised most of central and northern Sweden, nearly half of the country.

Franzén returned to Finland only once after leaving the Academy. He travelled from Turku to Helsinki for the University’s bicentennial celebrations in 1840, where he was honoured with the title riemumaisteri to mark the fifty years since his first degree was conferred. On the journey, Franzén wrote a long poem called Resan Till Jubelfesten I Helsingfors (‘Journey to the festivities in Helsinki’, 1840) which pictured Turku as a desolate city after the Great Fire and described the splendour of the new capital.

“Franzenia”, the University building named after Frans Michael Franzén, which is in the Kallio district of Helsinki. Photo credit: Ari Aalto.​
“Franzenia”, the University building named after Frans Michael Franzén, which is in the Kallio district of Helsinki. Photo credit: Ari Aalto.​

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