Background
Franzén was born in Oulu (Swedish: Uleåborg), Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, which at the time was an integral part of Sweden.
priest university professor author poet
Franzén was born in Oulu (Swedish: Uleåborg), Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, which at the time was an integral part of Sweden.
At thirteen he entered the Royal Academy of Turku, where he attended the lectures of Henrik Gabriel Porthan (1739-1804), a pioneer in the study of Finnish history and folklore. He graduated in 1789, and became eloquentiae docens in 1792.
Three years later he started on a tour through Denmark, Germany, France and England, returning in 1796 to accept the office of university librarian at Turku in Finland. Finland was ceded by Sweden to Russia in 1809 after the Finnish War, and Franzén relocated to Kumla, Sweden, where he was appointed parish priest in the diocese of Strängnäs (1810), minister of the Klara Church in Stockholm (1824) and bishop of Härnösand (1831). He died at Säbrå parish.
Grafström, who served alongside him in the Swedish Academy, was Franzén"s biographer.
The poetical works of Franzén are collected under the title Skaldestycken (7 vols, 1824-1861). New educated, Samlade dikter, with a biography by A. A. Grafström (1867-1869).
Also a selection (Valda dikter) in 2 volumes (1871). His prose writings, Om svenska drostniningar (Åbo, 1798.
Örebro, 1823), Skrifter i obunden stil, volunteer i.
(1835), Predikningar (5 vols, 1841-1845) and Minnesteckningar, prepared for the Academy (3 vols, 1848-1860), are marked by faithful portraiture and purity of style.
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Swedish Academy]
In 1801 he became professor of history and ethics, in 1808 he was elected a member of the Swedish Academy and in 1815 a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.