Bernhard von Beskow

{{short description|Swedish dramatist and historian}}

{{Expand language|topic=bio|langcode=sv|otherarticle=Bernhard von Beskow|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox writer

| image = Bernhard von Beskow.JPG

| caption = Portrait (oil on canvas) by Olaf Johan Södermark (1830)

| birth_date = {{birth date|1796|4|19|df=yes}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1868|10|17|1796|4|19|df=yes}}

| nationality = Swedish

| occupation = Dramatist, historian

| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden

| honorific_prefix = Baron

| death_place = Stockholm, Sweden

}}

Bernhard von Beskow (19 April 1796{{snd}}17 October 1868) was a Swedish dramatist and historian.

Born in Stockholm and the son of a merchant, his vocation for literature was assisted by his tutor, the poet Johan Magnus Stjernstolpe (1777–1831), whose works he edited. He entered the civil service in 1814, was ennobled in 1826 and received the title of baron in 1843. He held high appointments at court, and was, from 1834 onward, the perpetual secretary of the Swedish Academy— using his great influence with tact and generosity.{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Beskow, Bernhard von|volume=3|pages=820-821}} This refers to a notice by Carl David af Wirsén in his Lefnadsteckningar (Stockholm, 1901). He was an elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1836.{{cite book |last= Holland |first= Henry Scott |author-link= |date= 20 Oct 2011|title= Memoir of Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt: Her Early Art-Life and Dramatic Career, 1820-1851| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_KPIuuMIk94C|access-date= 9 March 2022|location= Cambridge | publisher= Cambridge University Press | page=87| isbn= 978-1-108-03868-3}}

He produced a series of plays based on Swedish history. {{cite book |last= Scobbie |first= Irene |author-link= |date= 11 May 2010|title= The A to Z of Sweden| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EuqP8HLXxSAC|access-date=9 March 2022|location= Washington, DC| publisher= Rowman & Littlefield| page=221| isbn= 978-0-810-87218-9}} His works allowed for his recognition as the most respectable exponent of romantic historical play which became popular among the Swedish audience.{{cite book |last= Mortensen|first= Brita M. E |author-link= |date= 2 Jan 1965|title= Strindberg| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=a104AAAAIAAJ|access-date=9 March 2022|location= Cambridge | publisher= Cambridge University Press | page=92| isbn= 978-0-521-09260-9}} He has written several academical memoirs, volumes of poems, philosophy and a historical study entitled Om Gustav den tredje såsom Konung och Menniska (5 vols, 1860–1869, Gustavus III as king and man), printed in the transactions of the Swedish Academy (vols 32, 34, 37, 42, 44).

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, "his poetry is over-decorated, and his plays are grandiose historical poems in dramatic form”. Among his famous works are Erik XIV (2 parts, 1826);{{cite book |last= Warme |first= Lars G. |author-link= |date= 1 Jan 1996|title= A History of Swedish Literature| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l3JjeZz-OiwC|access-date=9 March 2022|location= Lincoln, Nebraska| publisher= U of Nebraska Press| page=200| isbn= 978-0-803-24750-5}} and four pieces collected (1836–1838) as Dramatiska Studier, the most famous of which is the tragedy of Torkel Knutsson."

He became a member of Pro Fide et Christianismo, a Christian education society, in 1852.{{Cite web |last=Simonsson |first=Ivar |title=Bernhard Beskow, von |url=https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=18136 |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon |language=sv}}

He died in Stockholm in 1868.