Nicolai Jacob Wilse

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Nicolai Jacob Wilse (born January 24, 1736 in Lemvig , † May 25, 1801 in Eidsberg ) was a Danish pastor, topographical author and travel writer.

Life

His parents were the pastor in Jegindø Peder Jacobsen Wilse († 1786) and his wife Maren Nielsdatter Bierregaard († 1772). He married Cecilia Thorup († 1783) in 1770, his second marriage in 1784 was Gurine Maria (or Marie) Morland († 1796) and in 1799 Johanne Marie (or Maria) Grøgaard († 1814).

Wilse began studying theology in 1752 and passed the state examination in 1756. After that he earned his living as a tutor. At the same time he learned modern languages. In French he went so far that he wrote an epic poem in that language, which appeared in Christiania in 1762 . In addition, he dealt with mathematics, chemistry and physics. In 1766 he came to Copenhagen and until 1768 taught mathematics to four young members of the Russian embassy in French. In 1768 he received his master's degree in philosophy. In 1768 he was assigned the parish Spydeberg in Østfold . In 1781 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . In 1784 he became an adjunct professor in theology. In 1785 he became pastor of Eidsberg.

His writing activity spanned over 40 years and secures him a place in Danish literary history. His travel reports are still of great value today. In 1767 he wrote Fridericiæ Stads Beskrivelse . After settling in Norway, he dug into describing this country and began to feel like a Norwegian. He had his books printed in Christiania, although printing in Copenhagen would have been cheaper and better, and gave the reason for this "a kind of Norwegian patriotism". He also used special Norwegian words and was one of the first to write the Norwegian place names according to the Norwegian pronunciation. In 1779 his Fysisk, økonomisk og statistisk Beskrivelse over Spydeberg came out with an appendix Meteorologisk Natur- og Husholdningskalender . He also wrote a dictionary of the Eastern Norwegian dialect. He also wrote a detailed account of his new Eidsberg parish, which appeared in the Topografisk Journal . He was also active in meteorology and maintained one of the 39 European stations in Spydeberg that supplied weather data to the Societas Meteorologica Palatina in Mannheim. In his work Meteorographia compendiosa he developed symbols for meteorological phenomena, independent of the respective language, which became one of the foundations for meteorology as a science around 1800.

For lack of funds, he could not travel far. He only got as far as Kongsberg and Lund . But on a trip to Copenhagen he made a detour to Hamburg and Berlin. He wrote five volumes of travel reports that came out from 1790 to 1798 with a lot of valuable information. He was also in contact with other naturalists, such as Carl von Linné and the important Norwegian naturalist Hans Strøm .

Nicolai Wilse's grave in Eidsberg

He also campaigned for popular education, in which he found major deficiencies, and in 1777 published Maanedlige Afhandlinger i Hensigt paa det sande, nyttige og comfortable (monthly treatises on the true, useful and pleasant), where he set up a Realschule in Christiania suggested. The magazine only appeared in one year. When Hermoder magazine appeared in Christiania , he was a hardworking employee. In 1791 he was one of the founders of "Det norske Corresponderende Topographiske Selskab" and contributed to the Topographisk Journal for Norge society . He also stood up for a university in Norway and in 1793 wrote Indbydelse til mine norske Medborgere og Landsmænd for med mig underdanigst at ansøge om et Akademi i Norge (invitation to my Norwegian citizens and compatriots to petition with me, humbly, for an academy in Norway) . In it he invited all friends of the fatherland to a certain day to collect money and to promote the university affair. This attracted a lot of attention, and he was later considered to be the real leader of this movement. The meeting came about and opened with a speech by Wilse, in which he presented his plan for a university. As long as he lived, he continued to pursue the plan with all his energies, but did not see its realization any more. The popularity he gained in Norway as a result was extraordinary. On his initiative, several societies merged in 1809 to form the "Selskabet for Norges Vel" (Society for the Good of Norway). Through his work he played a major role in the development of a Norwegian national consciousness .

Works (selection)

  • "Beskrivelse over Thyholm". In: Danske Atlas , Vol. 5, 1762, pp. 513-527
  • Full description of the Stapel-Staden Fridericia . Copenhagen 1767
  • Meteorographia compendiosa eller: en kort Maade, ved beqvemme Tegn, at optegne alle slags Veyr, veyrskifter og Luftsyner , Copenhagen 1778
  • Physisk, oeconomisk og statistisk Deskrivelse over Spydeberg Præstegield and Egn i Aggershuu-Stift and Norge og i Anledn. deraf adskillige Afhandlinger og Anmerkninger deels Norge i Almindelighed, deels dens Østre-Kant i Særdeleshed vedkommende , 2 vols., 1779 (with the supplement til en Forsøg stedsvarende meteorologisk natural og Huusholdnings-Calender for Norge Søndenfields . 1780 and Norsk Ordbog eller seedling af norske Ord i sær de, som bruges i Egnen af ​​Spydeberg and videre paa den Østre-Kant af Norge )
  • Kort Underretning om Mag. Jac. Nic. Wilse, including a Fortegnelse paa hans Tid efter and the forfærdigede Skrifter . Copenhagen 1786
  • Travel journal in the north of the country, with Hensigt to Folkenes and Landenes Kundskab 5 parts. Copenhagen 1790–1798 (first printed in J. Bernouilli (Ed.): Collection of short travel descriptions . Hamburg 1782–1786)
  • Topographisk Beskrivelse af Edsberg Præstegjeld . In: Topographisk Journal for Norge , Heft 2, 1791. pp. 1–91, Heft 16, 1796, pp. 115–128, Heft 18, 1796, pp. 1–76 (new print Rakkestad 1992)
  • Indbydelse til mine norske Medborgere and Landsmænd for med mig allergenstat ansøge om et Academie i Norge . Supplement in the Norske Intellektiven -Sedler , No. 13/1793
  • Om den norske Selvstændighed med Hensyn til periodiske Skrifter for Norge . In: Hermoder 1, 1795, pp. 87-100
  • About Forskiællen paa Moraliteten i Bøyderne overalt i Norge and Sammes Aarsager . In: Hermoder 4, 1796, pp. 70-91.

Remarks

The article is mainly based on Dansk biografisk lexikon . Any other information is shown separately.

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Sandberg
  2. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 260.
  3. ↑ In the 19th century there was the titular professor (Titulær professor), a title that was bestowed on deserved personalities, but did not include any teaching activity at the university.
  4. ↑ Wilse, Jacob Nicolai . In: Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen, Palle Raunkjær (ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape  25 : Werth – Øyslebø . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1928, p. 188 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
  5. ^ Letter to Linné dated March 16, 1769 in Linnean Correspondence .
  6. ↑ Morten Pedersen: Review by Ingebrikt Hagen, Norges bryologi i det 18de århundrede in Botanisches Zentralblatt; referring organ for the entire field of botany (1898) (PDF; 393 kB) p. 12.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Wilse, Nicolai Jacob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wilse, Jacob Nicolaj
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish pastor, topographical author and travel writer
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1736
PLACE OF BIRTH Lemvig
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1801
Place of death Eidsberg