Olof Tempelman

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Olof Samuel Tempelman (February 21, 1745 – July 27, 1816) was a Swedish architect and professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He became a professor in 1780 and was named royal architect in 1799.

Tempelman was born in Källstad, Östergötland. His father, Samuel Tempelman, was a parish priest, and his mother was Susanna Ridderström. After his father died when he was three, he was raised by his uncle Peter Tempelman, a learned priest who loved books and science. He showed an early interest in design and studied at home, at a Linköping high school, and at Uppsala University, where he began with theology and humanities but turned to science.

In 1767 he was hired by Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz to work at the Superintendent of Antiquities. He worked on architectural projects, learned from skilled architects, and prepared drawings for Christopher Polhem. In 1775 Adelcrantz sent him to Copenhagen; in 1776 Gustav III made him an information aide for fortifications, where he trained under Fredrik Dederichs. He contributed to Gustav III’s new opera house at Norrmalmstorg and designed the king’s Pavilion.

Most of his work involved churches, but he also designed other public and private buildings. Adelcrantz encouraged him to teach, and in 1780 Tempelman became a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He traveled to Paris and Rome, and with Ehrensvärd to Naples and back through Italy, Pompeii, and Vesuvius.

The 1780s brought more independent work. The 1790s were politically difficult in Sweden, but Tempelman continued designing churches, schools, and hospitals, especially outside Stockholm. In 1798 his eyesight began to fail, yet he kept working and teaching for several years.

Tempelman married Britta Elisabet Gyllenstam in 1782; they had a daughter who died in infancy, and Britta died a year later. He married Dorothea Catherina Pagenkopff in 1804; they had five children, two sons who died young and three daughters who survived him. He died in Stockholm on July 27, 1816, and was buried there, leaving behind his wife and three daughters.