Mendel Levin Nathanson
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Mendel Levin Nathanson (born November 20, 1780 in Altona , † October 6, 1868 in Copenhagen ) was a Danish businessman and author.
Work as a merchant
Mendel Levin Nathanson came from a Jewish family. Members of the family lived in Altona since his great-great-grandfather Nathan Mendel Leidesdorf († 1710 in Altona). His father Levin Nathan (Leidesdorf) († January 1833 in Altona) was a businessman and married to Hitzelia (Hizla) Meyer (* 1752; † April 1, 1834). She was the daughter of the Copenhagen merchant Amsel Jacob Meyer (around 1728–1798) and his first wife Brendel Meyer, who died in 1763. In his second marriage he married her sister Hitzelia (around 1746-1819).
Like many Jewish children, Nathanson received almost no education. He gained some knowledge of Hebrew, learned almost no German and only attended a Christian evening school, which offered him the only opportunity to get to know people beyond the cramped Jewish petty bourgeoisie. At the age of twelve he traveled to Copenhagen with his grandmother, where he learned Danish, French and German. At the age of 15 he got a job as a bookmaker at AJ Meyer & Sohn, which is run by his grandfather . Led by his uncle David Amsel Meyer (1755-1813) who was a wholesale merchant and financial advisor to the Danish king, he learned the trade of a businessman. In 1798 his uncle helped him to become self-employed as a wholesale manufacturer of goods .
As the first dealer in Copenhagen, Nathanson avoided the usual middlemen via Hamburg . Instead, he contacted English producers himself. Although he did not speak English at first, he traveled there repeatedly from 1798 onwards. So he got to know the liberal English economic system better than other Danes. He also adopted English economic theories and admired England's political system for life. He also found access to English culture and was in contact with English writers and artists.
In 1799 Nathanson founded the company Meyer & Nathanson with his cousin and brother-in-law Meyer Moses Meyer . In 1806 he received shares in the large trading company Meyer & Trier from his uncle . In the following, economically positive years, he achieved high income. In 1809 he earned 12,000 thalers. Since he himself had come to appreciate the importance of language skills and education, he tried to help the Jews out of their cultural and social isolation. In 1805 he initiated the new free school for Jewish boys in Copenhagen ( Friskole for Drengebørn af den mosaiske Tro ). In 1810 he also helped found the Carolinenschule intended for Jewish students. He was a director of both institutions and donated large sums of money during his successful period.
Nathanson helped boys whose parents they actually wanted to employ in the retail trade to find jobs in the trade and other sectors. Sometimes he helped them financially during their apprenticeship and closely followed their further development.
In 1806 the government set up a commission to reorganize the finances of the Copenhagen Jewish Community. Nathanson played a decisive role in this. Despite some resistance and his young age, he became a respected parishioner. In 1808 he congratulated Friedrich VI on behalf of the deputation of the community . to the accession to the throne. On Nathanson's initiative, the Jewish burial system was redesigned in 1810 and the worship service in 1817 in line with Reform Judaism . He had introduced devotional exercises that included sermons in Danish and psalms sung. As part of the reform, parts of this were included in the municipal code.
Nathanson became the most influential person of the 19th century who campaigned for the assimilation of the Jews. He advised on the legislation that made Jews equal citizens of Denmark in 1814. He saw himself increasingly as a Dane and occupied himself with the country's literature and fine arts. In his house he received important artists and writers. He helped Jens Immanuel Baggesen and Hartwig Wessely for many years and became a patron of Henrik Hertz . He arranged important commissions for the painters Christian August Lorentzen and Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg . He was also close friends with the composer Friedrich Kuhlau .
Work as a political economist and editor
Nathanson's successful time as a merchant ended due to the Napoleonic Wars . Together with David Amsel Meyer, to whom he showed almost childlike awe and gratitude, he carried out large and extremely problematic financial transactions at the expense of the state, with which he wanted to secure the course of the Danish crown. He did this after Meyer's death until the end of the war. The speculative business with paper money increased steadily and led to the collapse of his trading house. Due to major changes in exchange rate in 1819/20, he could no longer pay at the end of July 1820. He had liabilities of 5 million kroner, which were offset by collateral of 30 percent. While the claims of the state treasury and the national bank could be met, many Altona and Hamburg merchants, especially the father of the pedagogue Anton Rée , suffered great losses. Nathanson's bankruptcy created problems for the general creditworthiness of Danish companies. A resumption of business ended in a second bankruptcy in 1831. After that, his company was finally liquidated.
After the end of the practical work as a captain, Nathanson dealt with economic policy. He had a clear mind, had business experience and had good contacts with high-level positions that provided him with the data and information he needed. After a few smaller contributions, such as a book about his uncle in 1816, he wrote introductory comments on commercial statistical tables. From 1832 to 1834 he worked on a three-volume work on Danish trade, shipping, and money and finance. In 1836 he published his main work, in which he described the Danish state budget from the era of Frederick IV to the present in historical and statistical terms.
Nathanson found readers interested in his books, but also received severe criticism from experts. CN David ruled that Nathanson the time under Frederick VI. described too positively. The politician Anders Sandøe Ørsted condemned Nathanson's criticism of Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann and other politicians during the state bankruptcy in 1813. Nathanson commented on this in 1857 with a pamphlet on stock exchange operations and price developments.
Nathanson was familiar with the economic theories of his time, but wrote little clearly and systematically himself. However, they are important as sources of economic history, as they deal with historical negotiations and processes with Nathanson's involvement and the chapters contain statistical data that are difficult to ascertain otherwise.
Because of his literary work, the government offered Nathanson in 1838 the editorial post of "Berlingske Tidende". He worked as such for twenty years. The government gave him a nationwide alignment that he had to adhere to. Nathanson himself did not formulate fluent texts, but modernized the newspaper, which initially appeared with a circulation of 1,400 copies. In the paper he gave broad space to economic issues for the first time and always praised Danish butter and fat as Denmark's natural riches.
Nathanson knew how to make his paper diverse. From 1844 he therefore published an additional morning edition in addition to the main afternoon paper. It was important to him to offer a lot of cultural news and reading material, which was a major factor in the steadily increasing circulation. The paper thus developed into Denmark's leading newspaper, but it never wanted to influence public opinion. When Nathanson left the editorial office in late 1858, sales of the early and late editions were 10,000 each. In April 1865 he followed another call to the editorial office. Due to his advanced age, however, he was ready to retire in January of the following year.
Nathanson was made Knight of the Dannebrog in 1855, Dannebrogsman in 1859 and Budget Councilor in 1860.
family
On October 28, 1799, Nathanson married Esther Herfort in Copenhagen (* December 18, 1777 in Copenhagen; † January 1, 1849 there). She was the daughter of the businessman Jacob Levin Hertfort († 1792) and his wife Leo (Rose), née Hertz (1741-1826).
The Nathansons had six daughters and three sons. Almost all children were baptized, converted to the Lutheran faith, and chose the family name Nansen . Two of his three sons became pastors. Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg's family pictures are in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. Nathanson was a personal sponsor of Eckersberg and financed his studies with Jacques-Louis David in Paris. He later ordered several paintings from Eckersberg while he was living in Rome.
literature
- Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 244-247.
Web links
- Isidore Singer, Frank Cramer: Nathanson, Mendel Levin in the Jewish Encyclopedia
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 244.
- ↑ Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 244-245.
- ↑ a b Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 245.
- ↑ a b Patricia G. Berman: In Another Light - Danish Painting in the Nineteenth Century . 1st edition. Thames and Hudson, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-500-23844-8 , pp. 58 ff .
- ↑ Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 245-246.
- ↑ a b c d e Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 246
- ↑ a b Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , page 247.
- ↑ Harald Jørgensen: Nathanson, Mendel Levin . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 9 - 1991. ISBN 3-529-02649-2 , pages 244 and 246.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nathanson, Mendel Levin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Danish merchant and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 20, 1780 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Altona |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 6, 1868 |
| Place of death | Copenhagen |