Arvid Horn

Count Arvid Bernhard Horn af Ekebyholm (6 April 1664 – 17 April 1742) was a Swedish (Finnish) soldier, diplomat and politician. He served twice as President of the Privy Council Chancellery (1710–1719 and 1720–1738) and was one of the leading figures of the Swedish Age of Liberty.

Soldier and diplomat

He was born Arvid Bernhard Horn in Vuorentaka (now part of Salo, Southwest Finland), Sweden, the son of Gustaf Horn of Kanckas and his wife Anna Helena von Gertten. After completing his studies at Turku, he entered the Swedish Army and served for several years in the Netherlands, in Hungary under Prince Eugene, and in Flanders under Waldeck (1690–1695). He stood high in the favour of the young Charles XII of Sweden and was one of his foremost generals in the earlier part of the Great Northern War. In 1704 he was entrusted with his first diplomatic mission, the deposition of Augustus II of Poland and the election of Stanislaus I of Poland, a mission which he accomplished with distinguished ability but absolute unscrupulousness. Shortly afterwards he was besieged by Augustus in Warsaw and compelled to surrender (see also Civil war in Poland (1704–1706)).