Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld
Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld (born July 17 or June 2, 1655 in Åmål , † June 2, 1727 in Åbylund ) was a Swedish philologist, diplomat and collector of historical documents.
Life
His parents were Johan Sparwenfeld (1618–1698) and Christina Uggla. Before he was eight years old, he was already attending lectures at Uppsala University . It is believed that he studied law, history, and languages, among others.
His uncle, Admiral Claas Uggla , took him on a sea voyage to the Duchy of Holstein in 1674 . During the Danish-Norwegian War (1675–1679) he was captured on a sea voyage to England when a Danish corsair broke the ship. As a scholar, he was granted some privileges so that he could move about relatively freely. In 1677 he was given permission to return to Sweden. A second attempt to come to England first brought him to Holland. From there he traveled to France and Italy. In Rome he worked in the library of Queen Cristina and in the archives of the Vatican . He later made it to England, from where he returned to Sweden in 1682.
In 1684 Sparwenfeld was sent to the Swedish embassy in Moscow. He wrote a diary in which he recorded his findings about life in Russia. He began with lexicographical studies on Slavic languages, which would occupy him for almost 20 years and which led to the publication of the Lexicon Slavonicum . After completing his diplomatic service, he was allowed to stay in Russia for another year. He devoted himself to deepening his knowledge of Russian and searching for rare bibliographical works. In 1687 he returned to Sweden and reported to the king about a Russia that, despite its economic and military importance, had been little known until then.
In 1689 he began another trip through Europe. On behalf of the Swedish King Charles XI. he should look for documents that could prove that the Goths are of Swedish origin. In January 1690 he bought a previously secret work with 133 plans and views of Spanish cities and fortresses, the so-called Atlas of the Marquis of Heliche, from the estate of Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán , Marquis of Heliche in Madrid . It had nothing to do with the Goths, but he could be sure that the king would like these cards. In May 1694 he returned to Sweden. In 1695 he married Antonieta Sophia Hildebrand, who was twenty years his junior and with whom he had eight children before she died in 1704.
Around 1704 he gave the atlas of the Marquis of Heliche together with his other acquisitions from Spain to the Royal Library in Stockholm . In the 19th century, the atlas came into the newly established Swedish military archive ( El Krigsarkivet ), where it was only rediscovered and published in 2001. Depressed by the loss of his wife and withdrawn, Sparwenfeld died on June 2, 1727 in Åbylund.
Older spellings of the family name are Sparfvenfelt and Sparwenfeldt .
literature
- Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld . In: Herman Hofberg, Frithiof Heurlin, Viktor Millqvist, Olof Rubenson (eds.): Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon . 2nd Edition. tape 2 : L – Z, including supplement . Albert Bonniers Verlag, Stockholm 1906, p. 487 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
- Leonardo de Ferrari, el al .: Imágenes de un Imperio Perdido: El Atlas del Marqués de Heliche: Plantas de diferentes Plazas de España, Italia, Flandes y Las Indias . Ed .: Presidencia de la Junta de Extremadura. 4 Gatos, 2004, ISBN 84-689-0441-4 ( Imágenes de un Imperio Perdido. El Atlas del Marqués de Heliche [accessed October 12, 2008]).
Web links
- Literature by and about Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sparwenfeld, Johan Gabriel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish philologist, diplomat and collector of historical documents |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 17, 1655 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Åmål , Sweden |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 2, 1727 |
| Place of death | Åbylund , Sweden |