Biography
He was born at Floby in Västergötland (now part of Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County). He studied at the Royal Academy of Turku, and already had some reputation as a poet when he became a "docent" in aesthetics at the school in 1774.
Three years later he moved to Stockholm, where in 1778 he began publishing the journal "Stockholmsposten" with Assessor Carl Lenngren. Kellgren was sole editor from 1788 onwards. In 1779, he wrote a poem portraying the young and popular actress Ulrica Rosenblad's funeral, a verse quoted in the press. Kellgren was librarian to Gustavus III from 1780, and became his private secretary in 1785. At the establishment of the Swedish Academy in 1786 he was appointed one of its first members.
He died at Stockholm. Kellgren was never married, but was at one point the lover of the prima donna Fredrique Löwen.
Read more about this topic: Johan Henric Kellgren
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