Envold de Falsen

Enevold de Falsen

Envold De Falsen also "Enevold De Falsen" (born October 17, 1755 in Copenhagen , † November 16, 1808 in Christiania ) was a Norwegian lawyer, civil servant and author.

Life

His parents were the protocol secretary and later court judge Christian Magnus de Falsen (1719–99) and his wife Else Thestrup (1729–99). On November 22, 1781 he married Anna Henrike Petronelle Mathiesen (November 16, 1762– March 18, 1825), daughter of the Lagmann and chancellery Jørgen Mathiesen (1725–1764) and Karen Haagensdatter Nielsen (1735–1766).

He was known to his contemporaries as a great director, poet and actor. For posterity, however, he was a patriot and statesman, a pioneer of the freedom movement in 1814.

youth

At the age of 10 he passed the university entrance exam. He studied law in Copenhagen and passed the state law examination at the age of 16. In 1772 he became a copyist in the Danish State Chancellery. During this time his interest in the theater developed. His first play Salvini og Adelson was not accepted by the Royal Theater. He also became a Freemason .

The judge's office

A love affair with a young widow that had become known led to his father, President of the High Court, taking him to Christiania in 1777 and giving him a position as an assessor at his court.

De Falsen came into the theater life in Christiania. Together with others he founded a permanent Dramatic Society there. For the opening performance he wrote the prologue and took part as an actor. In 1781 he married one of the participating women and thus came into contact with Christiania's middle class. He wrote a number of translations for the theater company and also wrote his own farce De snorrige Fættere , which was performed there.

He was also successful in his judicial office, and in 1876 he became a member of the commission investigating the Lofthuus uprising. The peasants' complaints about the arbitrariness of the authorities and the townspeople's trading privileges met with understanding. He himself was a supporter of free trade. He soon found that the complaints against the authorities were justified. With his commitment and his skill in writing, he quickly had a decisive influence on the Commission's report, which led to the removal of some officials. In the longer term, there was a new fee regulation and the approval of the grain trade in Norway.

The scandal

When his father said goodbye in 1788, he became his successor at the upper court at the age of 33. But again there was a love affair, this time with the wife of the advocate general and stepdaughter of a fellow judge. This scandal forced De Falsen to be transferred to Steines as a simple judge over Nordland and Finnmark . The social isolation created a severe depression in him, which he could not overcome throughout his life.

The move to Copenhagen

Due to his depression he moved to Copenhagen in 1791, where he was an assessor in the Supreme Court. Here he found great recognition and he returned to the theater. Many of his translations and his own pieces have been performed, with the Singspiel Dragedukken being his greatest success. During this time, his outlook on life also changed. He wrote Om urbanitet (On Urbanity ), in which he placed duty over passion. He came back in touch with theater life and became acquainted with Peter Andreas Heiberg . The terror of the French Revolution made him value civil liberty higher than political liberty. With this he supported the Danish-Norwegian union. Against the accusation of betraying the cause of freedom, which his son later also raised, he defended himself in his text Hvad er Frihed og hvor skulle vi søge den , (What is freedom and how should we look for it?)

But he remained a Norwegian patriot and in 1793, with the pamphlet “Et Par Ord om det norske Akademi”, campaigned for the founding of his own Norwegian university.

Return to Norway

On November 12, 1802 he became president of the collegiate higher court in Akershus. Here he found great recognition and he returned to the theater. Many of his translations and his own pieces have been performed, with the Singspiel Dragedukken being his greatest success. (Stiftsoverret) in Akershus. A year later he was given the title of "Budget Councilor". He immersed himself again in Christiania's theatrical life, and the depressions that had developed in the Nordland gave way for a while. In 1799 a new theater company was founded in Christiania, which had its own theater.

The Danish-English war led to communication difficulties between Norway and Copenhagen due to the English blockade, so that Christiania had to set up its own administration in 1807. De Falsen became a member of this government commission on August 24, 1807 and soon became a senior member. He wrote all reports to the Danish government. In 1808 the war with Sweden followed. To prevent rumors, the commission issued its own newsletter, Budstikken (messenger staff ), with De Falsen as editor. It published official reports on the progress of the war with his comments on the bravery of the Norwegian soldiers and the future of Norway.

The end

But behind this mask of enthusiasm for the Norwegian cause, De Falsen was becoming increasingly frustrated by the rejection of the commission's proposals by the king, by the desperate supply situation in the country and the empty treasury. The feeling of danger and insurmountable difficulties all around the corner combined with the overwhelming workload became too much for him. On a rainy November night in 1808 he disappeared after a visit to the theater, and his body was found on Bjørvika beach the next morning.

He was buried on Gamle Aker kirkegård with great public sympathy.

Works

• Salvini and Adelson In: Nye and original Skuespil . Volume 1. Copenhagen 1776
• De snorrige Fættere . 1778. In: Nye og original Skuespil . Volume 3. Copenhagen 1781
• Et Par Ord om the Norske Academy . Copenhagen 1793
• Festivities i Valhal. En prologue to Kongens Fødselsdag on Jan. 29, 1796 (The festival in Valhalla. A prologue on the king's birthday on January 29, 1796). Reprint in Minerva 1796
• Dragedukken. Et Syngespil i fire Akter (Die Koboldin. A Singspiel in four acts). Copenhagen 1797
• Om Urbanitet (About Urbanity). Copenhagen 1801, first printed in: Skandinavisk Museum 1 Heft 2, 1800, pp. 94–151
• Hvad er Frihed and hvor skulle vi so the . In: Skandinavisk Museum 2, Heft 2, 1802, pp. 1-48
• Editing of Budstikken No. 1–55, 1808
• Envold Falsen: Skrifter (writings), collected and edited by LS Platou, 2 volumes, 1821 (supplement by OA Øverland in Bogvennen 4, 1896, pp. 1–29)

literature

• Paul Thyness: Envold de Falsen . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon ; Retrieved November 15, 2009.

Remarks

The article is based on the Norsk biografisk leksikon . Other information is shown separately. The explanations are taken from the Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon .

1. ↑ The "Protocol Secretary" was an assessor at the Supreme Court.
2. ^ The "Oberhofgericht" was a court of appeal established in Akershus in 1666, to which appeals against decisions of the Lagting could be directed. An appeal could be lodged with the Supreme Court (Højesteret) in Copenhagen against decisions of the High Court. In 1797 it was replaced by the Stiftsoverret. The "Justitiarius" was president of the court.
3. ↑ At that time the “Chancellery” was just a title with no special function. He was under the Council of Justice and was in 6th grade at court.
4. ↑ The "copyist" in the State Chancellery was the title for the subordinate typing staff, who was later called "assistant" and then "secretary". The term "copyist" existed until 1848.
5. ↑ Navneregister, Korksjoner, supplementer - på internett via lenke fra www.ub.ntnu.no/formidl/hist/ ( Memento of December 30, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) from Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet p. 20.
6. ↑ The "Assessor" was an associate judge in a collegial court.
7. ↑ The "Advocate General" was a civil-military official who assisted the Chief of Jurisdiction, a commanding general, in the field of military jurisdiction.
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Edvard Bull: Falsen, Enevold de . In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape 7 : Elektriske Sporveje – Fiesole . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1918, p. 717 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
9. ↑ The "Stiftsoverret" was established on August 11, 1797, the new appeal. Four such courts were formed, one in each of the four bishoprics: Akershus (later Oslo), Kristiansand, Bergen and Trondheim. It consisted of a chairman and two assessors. At the beginning it was responsible for both criminal and civil matters.
10. ↑ The title “Etatsrat” was awarded by the king and brought the bearer to the third class at court.