Eric Gustaf Geijer, a Swedish historian and poet, born at Ransater, Wermland, Jan. 12, 1783, died in Upsal, April 23, 1847. At the age of 16 he was sent to the university of Upsal. He neglected to take his degree at the proper time, and consequently in 1803 was refused a tutorship in a distinguished family. This aroused his pride, and to restore his reputation he at once determined to contend for the next prize of the Swedish academy for excellence in composition. With very meagre authorities, and with scarcely paper enough for his manuscript, he wrote a eulogy upon the Swedish administrator Sten Sture, which obtained the first prize. He graduated master of arts in 1806, and after a short visit to England was appointed in 1810 lecturer on history at Upsal, and was a second time crowned by the academy for an essay on the question: What advantages may be derived from the imagination in the moral education of man? In 1811 he was one of twelve young men who founded the Gothic society, the object of which was to nurture a national spirit and national manners, and to derive the materials of literature, not from classical and foreign sources, but from the ancient traditions of the North. The new school was quickly divided into two parties, the Gothic and more moderate party, of which Geijer and Tegner were the chiefs, and whose, organ was the Iduna, and the Phosphorist party, so called from its organ the Phosjyho-ros, of which Atterbom was the chief.

In the Iduna, which appeared from 1811 to 1824, Geijer published his finest poems, as The Viking,"The Last Scald,1' and "The Last Champion," which became immediately popular. His song of "The Charcoal Boy" is still a favorite throughout Sweden. In 1814-'15 he united with Afzelius in preparing a collection of Swedish popular ballads, and in 1817 was appointed professor of history at Upsal. He composed melodies for many of his own songs, and in 1824 published, in connection with Lindblad, Musik for Sang och Pianoforte. Liberal in politics and religion, he was twice offered a bishopric, which he declined, and twice represented the university of Upsal in the diet. His chief distinction is as the historian of Sweden. He was appointed with Fant and Schroder to edit the collection of Scrip-tores Rerum Suecicarum Medii Aevi (2 vols., Stockholm, 1818-25). His Soea Hikes Hafder ("nnals of Sweden," Upsal, 1825; translated into German, 1820) is a collection of dissertations on the early history and antiquities of the kingdom.

His principal work is the Svenska Folkets Historia ("History of the Swedish People," 3 vols., Orebro, 1832-'6; translated into German by Leffler, Hamburg, 1832-'6; into French by Lundblad, Paris, 1840; and into English by Turner, London, 1845), which extends only to the death of Queen Christina, but has been continued by Carlson. The work of Fryxell is also regarded as a supplement to it. At once a history of ideas, of manners, and of institutions, it is remarkable both for eloquence and learning, for its patriotic tone, synthetic views, and suggestive power. Among his minor publications are a Sketch of the State of Sweden from Charles XII. to Gustavus III." (Upsal, 1839) and a "Life of Charles XIV. John," or Bernadotte (Upsal, 1844). A complete edition of his works has been published (12 vols., Stockholm, 1849-'55).