Gustav III (24 January [O.S. 13 January] 1746 – 29 March 1792.
I was King of Sweden from 1771 until my death. I was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, sister of Frederick the Great.
i opposed the parliamentarian reforms that had been worked out before my reign, in the Age of Liberty, and as i spent high amounts on things that pleased me, i was controversial. To distract attention from this, i tried to expand Sweden's borders through a war against Russia, but the attempt was unsuccessful. In the end, i was assassinated by a conspiracy of noblemen.
On November 4, 1766, i married Sophia Magdalena, daughter of Frederick V of Denmark.
But the match was an unhappy one, owing partly to incompatibility of temper; but still more to the mischievous interference of the jealous queen-mother. The marriage produced two children: Crown Prince Gustav Adolf (1778-1837), and Prince Carl Gustav, Duke of Småland (1782-1783). The conception of the children was difficult, and my own mother claimed that i was not the father of my son and heir. It was rumored that i was homosexual. Evidence of this is found in the close personal relationships i formed with two of my courtiers, Count Axel von Fersen and Baron Gustav Armfelt. -i have no further comments on that.
I was a benefactor of arts and literature. I founded several academies, among them the Swedish Academy, and i had the Royal Swedish Opera built.
Although i may be charged with many foibles and extravagances, i am regarded one of the leading sovereigns of the 18th century.
I was, moreover, active as a playwright. i was largely credited with creating the Swedish theatre, where my own historical dramas were performed, and i promoted the careers of many native singers and actors, among them the dramatic stars Fredrique Löwen and Lars Hjortsberg and the operatic stars Elisabeth Olin and Christoffer Christian Karsten, by letting them perform in my plays, and i founded both the Royal Dramatic Theatre, the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Swedish Ballet.
My historical essays, notably the famous anonymous eulogy on Lennart Torstenson crowned by the Swedish Academy, which i established in 1786, are said to be full of feeling and exquisite in style, my letters to my friends are delightful. Every branch of literature and the arts interested me, every poet and artist of my day found in me a liberal and sympathetic protector.
I became a Freemason in 1780, and introduced the Rite of Strict Observance into Sweden. That year, i named my brother, the Duke of Södermanland (later Charles XIII - above, seated, right), to the office of Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of Sweden. The Grand Lodge conferred upon him the title "Vicarius Salomonis" (Vicar of Solomon).[1]
A masked ball took place at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm at midnight on March 16, 1792. I had arrived earlier that evening to enjoy a dinner in the company of friends. During dinner, i received an anonymous letter that contained a threat to my life, but, as the i had received numerous threatening letters in the past, i chose to ignore it, and, after dining, left my rooms to take part in the masquerade.
Soon upon entering, i was surrounded by Anckarström and his co-conspirators Claes Fredrik Horn and Adolf Ribbing. I was easily spotted, mainly due to the breast star of the Order of the Seraphim which glowed in silver upon my cape. The conspirators were all wearing black masks and accosted me in French with the words:
Bonjour, beau masque ("Good-day, fine mask")
Anckarström moved in behind me and fired a pistol-shot into the left side of my back. I jumped aside, crying in French:
Ah! Je suis blessé, tirez-moi d'ici et arrêtez-le ("Ah! I am wounded, take me away from here and stop him!")
I was immediately carried back to my quarters, and the exits of the Opera were sealed. Anckarström was arrested the following morning, and immediately confessed to the murder, although he denied a conspiracy until informed that Horn and Ribbing had also been arrested and had confessed in full.
I had not been shot dead, but was alive, and continued to function as head of state. The coup was a failure in the short run. However, the wound became infected and on March 29 i finally died, my last words being:
"Jag känner mig sömning, några ögonblicks vila skulle göra mig gott" ("I feel sleepy, a few moments rest will do me good")
Ulrica Arfvidsson, the famous medium of the Gustavian era, had told me something that could be interpreted as a prediction about it in 1786 when i visited her anonymously - a coincidence, but she was known to have a large network of informers all over town to help her with her predictions, and was in fact interrogated about the murder.
The assassination of me became the basis of an opera libretto by Scribe, set by both Daniel Auber in 1833 under the title Gustave III, and with the specifics changed by censorship, by Giuseppe Verdi in 1859 as Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball).
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