Jacob Johan Anckarström
| Jacob Johan Anckarström | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 11 May 1762 |
| Died | 27 April 1792 (aged 29) , Sweden |
| Occupation | Military captain |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
Jacob Johan Anckarström (11 May 1762 – 27 April 1792) was a Swedish military officer who assassinated Gustav III, king of Sweden. He was convicted and executed for regicide.
He was the son of Jacob Johan Anckarström the Elder and Hedvig Ulrika Drufva. He married Gustaviana Elisabet Löwen (1764-1844) in 1783, and had two daughters and two sons: Gustafva Eleonora Löwenström (1785-1860), Carolina Lovisa, Johan Jacob and Carl David.
Anckarström served as a page at court and then as a captain in King Gustav III's regiment between 1778 and 1783. During travels to Gotland, he was accused of slandering the king and fled to , where he spent the winter; he was subsequently arrested, brought back, and tried in Gotland. Although he was acquitted due to lack of evidence, he later maintained in his confession that this incident sparked his fire of hatred towards the king, fuelled by the contemporary revolutionary movement in Europe.
The Swedish nobles were about this time violently opposed to the king, who, by the aid of the other orders of the state, had wrested their power from them and was now ruling despotically. This dislike was increased by the coup d'état of 1789 and by the king's known desire to interfere in favor of Louis XVIII in France. Anckarström, a man of strong passions and violent temper, resolved upon the assassination of Gustav and communicated his intention to other disaffected nobles, including Counts Horn and Ribbing.
Initial attempts to seize the king were failures.
On 16 March 1792, Gustav III had returned to Stockholm, after spending the day at Haga Palace outside the city, to dine and visit a masquerade ball at the Royal Opera. During dinner, he received an anonymous letter (written by the colonel of the Life Guards, Carl Pontus Lilliehorn) that contained a threat to his life, but as the king had received numerous threatening letters in the past, he chose to ignore the warning.
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