Axel Rappe

Friherre General Axel Emil Rappe (2 October 1838 – 18 December 1918) was a Swedish Army officer and Minister of War from 1892 and 1899.

This article is about the general born in 1838. For the general born in 1884, see Axel Rappe (1884–1945).
Friherre
Axel Rappe
Ministers for War
In office
22 June 1892 – 27 October 1899
Prime MinisterErik Gustaf Boström
Preceded byHjalmar Palmstierna
Succeeded byJesper Crusebjörn
Personal details
Born
Axel Emil Rappe

(1838-10-02)2 October 1838
Arby, Kalmar Municipality, Sweden
Died18 December 1918(1918-12-18) (aged 80)
Stockholm, Sweden
Resting placeNorra begravningsplatsen
OccupationMilitary officer
Military service
Branch/serviceSwedish Army
Years of service1859–1903
RankGeneral
CommandsChief of the General Staff
Battles/warsFranco-Prussian War

Early life

Rappe was born on 2 October 1838 in Christinelund manor in Arby, Kalmar County, the son of county governor, Baron A.L. Rappe and his wife Lisette Björnstjerna.[1] He passed studentexamen in 1857 and then kansliexamen in 1860, both in the city of Uppsala.[2]

Career

Rappe was commissioned as an officer in 1859 and was appointed underlöjtnant and was assigned to Uppland Regiment (I 8) the same year. He became a general staff officer in 1865. Rappe served in the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871 and then in the French Army in Algeria from 1871 to 1872. Back in Sweden, Rappe became captain in the Swedish Army in 1870 and of the General Staff in 1873.[2]

He was promoted to major in 1874[2] and major of the General Staff in 1876[1] and served as Chief of Staff of the 4th Military District (Fjärde militärdistriktet) from 1878 to 1879.[2] Rappe was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Bohuslän Regiment (I 17) in 1879 and was promoted to colonel in the army in 1881. He was appointed commanding officer of Bohuslän Regiment in 1882 and Acting Chief of the General Staff the same year.[2] In 1885, Rappe was promoted to major general and was appointed Chief of the General Staff. He served as such until 1892 when he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed Minister of War and head of the Ministry of Land Defence.[1] In 1899 he resumed his duty as Chief of the General Staff and served as such until 1905. Rappe was promoted to general in 1903.

He has been called the spiritual father of Boden Fortress.

Personal life

Rappe married on 2 May 1875 to Anna Sandahl (1855–1946), the daughter of Professor Oskar Theodor Sandahl and Jenny Magdalena Fredrika Huss.[3] He was the father of opera singer Signe Rappe-Welden (1879–1974), Axel Rappe (1884–1945) who also became a military officer, and five more children. He was a member of the men's organization Sällskapet Idun.[4] Rappe died in 1918 and was buried in Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.[5]

Dates of rank

Rappe's dates of rank:[3]

Awards and decorations

Honours

References
  1. Vem var det?: biografier över bortgångna svenska män och kvinnor samt kronologisk förteckning över skilda ämbetens och tjänsters innehavare [Who was it?: biographies of deceased Swedish men and women and chronological list of different office and services holders] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1944. p. 156. SELIBR 8079633.
  2. Hildebrand, Albin; Bergenstråhle, Edvard, eds. (1899). Svenskt porträttgalleri. 3, Konungens statsråd, Konungens högsta domstol, Kungl. Maj:ts kansli, Kungl. Maj:ts beskickningar till främmande makter samt svenska och norska aflönade generalkonsuler, konsuler och vice konsuler (in Swedish). Stockholm: Tullberg. p. 8. SELIBR 384675.
  3. Åselius, Gunnar (1995–1997). "Axel E Rappe". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 29. National Archives of Sweden. p. 687. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  4. Levertin, Alfred (1903). "Friherre Axel Emil Rappe". Svenskt porträttgalleri (in Swedish). Vol. XXIII. Tullberg. OCLC 185162278.
  5. "Norra begravningsplatsen, kvarter 07B, gravnummer 39" (in Swedish). Hittagraven.se. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  6. Sveriges statskalender för år 1905 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1904. p. 123.
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