At thirteen he entered the Royal Academy of Turku, where he attended the lectures of Henrik Gabriel Porthan (1739–1804), a pioneer in the study of Finnish history and folklore.

[1][2][3] Three years later he started on a tour through Denmark, Germany, France and England, returning in 1796 to accept the office of university librarian at Turku in Finland.

[7] From the autumn of 1793, when his Till en ung Flicka and Menniskans anlete were inserted by Kellgren in the Stockholmspost, Franzén grew in popular favour by means of many minor poems of singular simplicity and truth, such as Till Selma, Den gamle knekten, Riddar St Göran, De Små blommorna, Modren vid vaggan, Nyårsmorgonen and Stjernhimmelen.

His songs Goda gasse glaset töm, Sörj ej den gryende dagen förut, Champagnevinet and Beväringssång were widely sung, and in 1797 he won the prize of the Swedish Academy by his Sång öfver grefve Filip Creutz.

His prose writings, Om svenska drostniningar (Åbo, 1798; Örebro, 1823), Skrifter i obunden stil, vol.