Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), is King of Sweden from 1523 until his death.

He is the first monarch of the House of Vasa, an influential noble family which comes to be the royal house of Sweden for much of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Gustav I is elected regent in 1521 after leading a rebellion against Christian II of Denmark, the leader of the Kalmar Union who controls most of Sweden at the time.

Gustav is an enigmatic person who has been referred to as both a liberator of the country and as a tyrannical ruler.

When he comes to power in 1523, he is largely unknown, and he becomes the ruler of a still divided country without a central government.

He becomes the first truly autocratic native Swedish sovereign and is a skilled propagandist and bureaucrat who lays the foundations for a more efficient centralized government.

During his reign Protestantism is introduced in the country.

In traditional Swedish history he has been labeled the founder of modern Sweden, and the "father of the nation".

Gustav liked to compare himself to Moses, whom he believed to have also liberated his people and established a state.