Oscar II | |||||
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King of Sweden | |||||
Reign | 18 September 1872 – 8 December 1907 | ||||
Coronation | 12 May 1873 | ||||
Predecessor | Charles XV | ||||
Successor | Gustaf V | ||||
King of Norway | |||||
Reign | 18 September 1872 – 7 June 1905 | ||||
Coronation | 18 July 1873 | ||||
Predecessor | Charles IV | ||||
Successor | Haakon VII | ||||
Born |
, , Sweden |
21 January 1829||||
Died | 8 December 1907 , Stockholm, Sweden |
(aged 78)||||
Burial | Riddarholmskyrkan, Stockholm, Sweden | ||||
Spouse | Sofia of Nassau | ||||
Issue |
Gustaf V of Sweden Prince Oscar Bernadotte Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland Prince Eugén, Duke of Närke |
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House | Bernadotte | ||||
Father | Oscar I | ||||
Mother | Josephine of Leuchtenberg | ||||
Religion | Church of Sweden | ||||
Signature | ![]() |
Full name | |
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Oscar Fredrik |
Oscar II (baptised Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death, and the last Bernadotte King of Norway from 1872 until his dethronement in 1905.
Oscar was king during a period when Sweden was undergoing a period of industrialization and rapid technological progress. His reign also saw the gradual decline of the Union of Sweden and Norway, which culminated in its dissolution in 1905. He was subsequently succeeded as King of Norway by his grandnephew Prince Carl of Denmark under the regnal name Haakon VII, and as King of Sweden by his eldest son, Gustaf V.
Harald V, the present king of Norway, is a great-grandson of Oscar II, through his third son Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland.
Oscar Fredrik was born in on 21 January 1829, the third of four sons of Crown Prince Oscar and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. Upon his birth, he was created Duke of Östergötland. He entered the navy at the age of eleven, and was appointed junior lieutenant in July 1845. Later he studied at Uppsala University, where he distinguished himself in mathematics. On 13 December 1848, he was made an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
In 1859, Oscar became heir-presumptive to the thrones of Sweden and Norway, as his eldest brother King Charles XV & IV was without legitimate heirs, having lost his only son to pneumonia in 1854. Oscar's middle brother, Gustaf, had died of typhoid fever in 1852.