FRANZEN, FRANS MIKAEL (1772-1847), Swedish poet, was born at Uleaborg in Finland on the 9th of February 1772. At thirteen he entered the university of Abo, where he attended the lectures of H. G. Porthan (1739-1804), a pioneer in the study of Finnish history and legend. 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 Abo. In 1801 he became professor of history and ethics, and in 1808 was elected a member of the Swedish Academy. On the cession of Finland to Russia, Franzen removed to Sweden, where he was successively appointed parish priest of Kumla in the diocese of Strengnaes (1810), minister of the Clara Church in Stockholm (1824) and bishop of Hernoesand (1831). He died at Saebra parsonage on the 14th of August 1847. From the autumn of 1793, when his _Till en ung Flicka_ and _Menniskans anlete_ were inserted by Kellgren in the _Stockholmspost_, Franzen grew in popular favour by means of many minor poems of singular simplicity and truth, as _Till Selma_, _Den gamle knekten_, _Riddar St Goeran_, _De Sma blommorna_, _Modren vid vaggan_, _Nyarsmorgonen_ and _Stjernhimmelen_. His songs _Goda gosse glaset toem_, _Soerj ej den gryende dagen foerut_, _Champagnevinet_ and _Bevaeringssang_ were widely sung, and in 1797 he won the prize of the Swedish Academy by his _Sang oefver grefve Filip Creutz_. Henceforth his muse, touched with the academic spirit, grew more reflective and didactic. His longer works, as _Emili eller en afton i Lappland_, and the epics _Svante Sture eller moetet vid Alvastra_, _Kolumbus eller Amerikas upptaeckt_ and _Gustaf Adolf i Tyskland_ (the last two incomplete), though rich in beauties of detail, are far inferior to his shorter pieces. The poetical works of Franzen are collected under the title _Skaldestycken_ (7 vols., 1824-1861); new ed., _Samlade dikter_, with a biography by A. A. Grafstroem (1867-1869); also a selection (_Valda dikter_) in 2 vols. (1871). His prose writings, _Om svenska drottningar_ (Abo, 1798; Oerebro, 1823), _Skrifter i obunden stil_, vol. i. (1835), _Predikningar_ (5 vols., 1841-1845) and _Minnesteckningar_, prepared for the Academy (3 vols., 1848-1860), are marked by faithful portraiture and purity of style. See B. E. Malmstroem, in the _Handlingar_ of the Swedish Academy (1852, new series 1887), vol. ii.; S. A. Hollander, _Minne af F. M. Franzen_ (Oerebro, 1868); F. Cygnaeus, _Teckningar ur F. M. Franzens lefnad_ (Helsingfors, 1872); and Gustaf Ljunggren, _Svenska vitterhetens haefder efter Gustaf III.'s doed_, vol. ii. (1876).