Ove Gjedde

Ove Gjedde, from J.P.Trap's "Berømte danske mænd og kvinder (1867)"

Ove Gjedde (or Gedde, Giedde) (27 December 1594 – 19 December 1660), born in Tommarp in Scania, Denmark (now Sweden), was a Danish admiral and member of the interim government, following the death of Christian IV and the harsh restrictions imposed on Frederick III due to his close ties to Germany.

Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar, built by Ove Gjedde.

In 1618 he commanded an expedition to Ceylon and India by Christian IV to make a colony, which made Tharangambadi a colony in India for 200 years. Gjedde returned in March 1622. He participated in the Torstenson War (1643–1645) as an admiral and in 1645 he was made "admiral of the realm", but in 1648 he became sick, and was instead granted the fiefdom of Helsingborg castle.

After the peace in Roskilde, Denmark lost Scania to Sweden. When the Swedish king Karl X Gustav broke the peace of 1658, Ove Gjedde was taken prisoner, during a visit to Helsingborg. He was first sent to prison in Helsingborg castle, and later sent to Malmö. In 1660 he was released during prisoner exchanges between Sweden and Denmark. At the time Gjedde was an old and physically weak man and he had already build a grave mounument in the old Danish city of Helsingborg, which had now become Swedish. The legend says that, "His bones after the Roskilde peace never found rest, after Scania became Swedish" (Danish: hans ben efter Roskildefreden aldrig fandt hvile, efter Skåne var blevet svensk)

External links

• Ove Gjedde

Persondata
Name	Gjedde, Ove
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 December 1594
Place of birth
Date of death	19 December 1660
Place of death