Frans Michael Franzén

Frans Michael Franzén
Painting by Johan Gustaf Sandberg in 1823.

Frans Michael Franzén (9 February 1772 – 14 August 1847) was a Swedish and Finnish 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. 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.

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 (1824) and bishop of Härnösand (1831). He died at Säbrå parish.

Franzén's son-in-law was Anders Abraham Grafström, the poet and historian. Grafström, who served alongside him in the Swedish Academy, was Franzén's biographer.