Anders Gustaf von Düben

Anders Gustaf von Düben (; 2 June 1785 – 4 October 1846) was a Swedish painter and military officer. Notably, he maintained personal connections with the former royal house of Holstein-Gottorp, which historically held the throne of the Kingdom of Sweden. Düben gained recognition for being the final Swedish individual, along with Johan Fredrik Ernst von Vegesack, to receive an exile sentence, owing to his implication in the Düben-Vegesack treason incident.

Early life Born in Stockholm, Sweden, into the Düben family, renowned for its contributions to classical music, he held the title of Freiherr. He entered the world as the son of the diplomat Henrik Jakob von Düben and Julie af Petersens, whose father was Herman Petersen. His ancestry comprised a blend of French, Dutch, German, and Scottish origins, with a lineage tracing back to French Huguenots in Saintonge.

Military career At the age of eighteen, Düben was appointed as fänrik in the Svea Life Guards. He later served as a lieutenant during the Franco-Swedish War, earning the military medal For Valour in the Field in 1807. Subsequently, he assumed the rank of captain in the army and was bestowed with the title and dignity of major in 1815.

Following his military career, he then pursued a vocation as a painter and exhibited at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts' exhibition in 1826. An esteemed landscape painter, several of Düben's paintings were purchased by Gustav, Prince of Vasa.

Düben-Vegesack-treason Düben was the last Swedish person sentenced to exile, along with Johan Fredrik Ernst von Vegesack, due to their ties to the late Hereditary Prince of Sweden, as they were suspected of having kept an illegal correspondence with the Prince. Even though Düben had pledged in 1829 to stop corresponding with him. Düben's ties to Gustav, Prince of Vasa was established during the Prince's infant years. He was a supporter of the Prince's family and their lineage.

Vegesack, who at the time was stationed in Berlin, sent a letter to his friend von Düben, asking him to meet up with Gustav, Prince of Wasa, during a sejour to Vienna in the winter of 1832. Vegsack had denied that the letter was written by him. The letter was intercepted, leading to von Düben and von Vegesack being accused of treacherous acts. Which consequently led to the arrest of Veseack and Düben on the Charge of High Treason on October 4, 1832. In March 1833, they received an exile sentence, and in May, they both went to Germany. He returned to Sweden in 1835.

Family In 1810, he married a woman from Swedish Pomerania named Carolina Maria Eckhardt (1794–1861). She was the daughter of a printer named Johann Heinrich Eckhardt. They had a child named Cesar von Düben, who later became a pioneer in photography.

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