von Schantz is a noble family in the Swedish and Finnish Houses of Nobility. They are listed as Family Number 1255 by the Swedish House of Nobility, and as Number 95 by the Finnish House of Nobility. The family was knighted in Sweden in 1693 and was immatriculated in to the Finnish nobility in 1818.
Johan Eberhard Schantz (1614-1665) who was descended from Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany, moved to Sweden in the 1630s, becoming secretary to King Charles X Gustav. Four of his sons by his second marriage in 1662 with Elisabeth Pfeiff (May 21, 1643 - February 10, 1729) were also in the king's service as secretary and similar positions, and all were knighted.
Of the four sons:
1. Johan David Schantz, knighted 1681. Secretary to the Governor-General of Skane, Halland and Blekinge. His line became extinct in 1753.2. Ludwig von Schantz (1650 - 1702), knighted as von Schantz January 4, 1693, Secretary of the National Archives (1701-1702). He married Kristina Fineman c. 1680.Of this branch, notable was Karl Ludwig von Schantz (15 May 1681, Stockholm - 25 March 1734), archaeologist and Assessor of Antiquities Archives from 1709, and who created a
genealogy in 1731. The direct line became extinct in 1798.
3. Fredrik von Schantz (1651-1697), knighted as von Schantz January 4, 1693. He married Anna Ursula Scheffer and his descendants continue to live in Sweden.Of this branch, notable was Johan Fredrik von Schantz (July 9, 1680 - 24 April 1743), secretary of the National Archives (1719-1728), Deputy Director (1728), and then Director of Posts (1737).
4. Kristian von Schantz (March 14, 1655 - 2 July 1702 in Kurland or Courland, Latvia), knighted as von Schantz January 4, 1693. He was the Royal Recorder and Secretary. In 1680 he married Adriana Fineman (1661 - 17 December 1725). Amongst their offspring were;John Eberhard von Schantz (July 9, 1687 - 17 October 1762), an admiral, who from his marriage with Countess Eva Catharina Leijonstedt (April 2, 1695 - 26 June 1762), daughter of the Privy Councillor, Earl Anders Leijonstedt issued;Ludwig von Schantze (August 25, 1692 - 23 May 1730), married (1721) Eva Maria Petré (June 22, 1703 - 16 March 1798) and whose descendants still live in Sweden.
Other descendants include:
Kristian Robert von Schantz, married to Anna Margareta Weckström, by whom he had;Gustav von Schantz [3] (1775 - 1847), deputy minister (1818), and several times rewarded by the
Swedish Academy's gold medal for literature. Married (1814) Ulrika Elisabet Björkman.
Johan Filip von Schantz (1835 – 1865), Finnish composer and conductor at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki.Johan Eberhard von Schantz (1802 - 1880), Finnish admiral in the Imperial Russian NavyThe Schantz Islands, a coral reef on the Marshall Islands, also known as Wotho was discovered by Johan Eberhard von Schantz on his circumnavigation of the globe on the Imperial Russian ship America.
