Royal Academy of Arts to that drawn up by Cheere in 1755. It was Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect and head of the British government's architects' department, the Office of Works, who used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support for the Academy in 1768. The painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president, and Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788. The instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of
Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy (Swedish Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien) in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. The name is often expanded to "Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur" ("...for Swedish folklore studies"). The Academy was founded on 6 November 1932, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the death of King Gustavus Adolphus in the Battle of Lützen. It was initiated by the Professor of Nordic Languages, Jöran Sahlgren, and the first president was the historian and politician Karl Gustaf Westman. The academy