Jens Christian Svabo

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jens Christian Svabo (* 1746 in Miðvágur , Faroe Islands ; † February 14, 1824 in Tórshavn ) was the first scholar to study the Faroese language . He is considered a pioneer of Faroese lexicography and is one of the early Faroese ethnographers .

Life

Jens Christian Svabo was the son of Pastor Hans Christophersen Svabonius (1702–1764) and Armgard Maria Samuelsdatter, née Weyhe. She was the daughter of Samuel Pedersen Lamhauge (1676–1755), who was Løgmaður from 1706 to 1752 in the Faroe Islands.

After graduating from the Tórshavn Latin School in 1765, Svabo went to Copenhagen , where he passed his philosophical exam in 1767. In addition to his natural history and economic studies, he mainly dealt with the Faroese language and wrote the first dictionary, the Dictionarium Færoense (Faroese - Danish - Latin ), of which five manuscripts have survived (of probably seven), from which Christian Matras approx. 200 Years later compiled a hard copy that appeared in 1966.

Just 100 years later, Svend Grundtvig took Svabo's dictionary manuscripts as the basis for his Lexicon Færoense (1887–1888). This work formed the basis for all other Faroese dictionaries (e.g. by Jakob Jakobsen 1891, Christian Matras 1961, Jóhan Hendrik Winther Poulsen 1998).

But because of this “ breadless art ” he forgot his “bread studies”, as his biographer J. Bloch put it in 1882. In 1771 and 1772 he then hired himself out as a private teacher with Count Gustav Holck-Winterfeldt. Some economic writings followed.

From 1781 to 1782 Svabo traveled back to the Faroe Islands at the behest of King Christian VII to prepare a report on its natural and economic foundations. Here he was in his element. His Indberetninger fra en Reise i Færø 1781-82 filled seven volumes , but - with the exception of one section in 1785 - no longer came to print during his lifetime. But they served as one of the bases for Jørgen Landt's Faroe Islands book from 1800.

The most important thing about this work was Svabo's writing of 50 Faroese ballads , the “discoverer” of which he is considered to be for the outside world because he first recognized their value. Crown Prince Frederik (later Frederik VI) bought a copy of this collection for the then considerable sum of 50 Danish Reichstalers, which meant 2 Reichstalers per sheet.

But Svabo's fame was denied. He did not receive a promised promotion, and so he lived in relative poverty until he finally left Copenhagen to live in abject poverty in the Faroe Islands. Only from time to time did he get some support from the pension chamber's poor fund, otherwise he was dependent on the mercy of his relatives.

Jens Christian Svabo died unmarried on February 14, 1824 in Tórshavn.

Works

  • Christian Matras (Ed.): Svabos færøske visehaandskrifter . Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1939, 535 p. (Samfund til Udgivelse af Gammel Nordisk Litteratur; LIX) - "Svabos manuscripts of the Faroese folk tunes"
    • Ders .: Svabos glossar til færøske visehaandskrifter . Copenhagen 1943. 85 p. (Samfund til Udgivelse af Gammel Nordisk Litteratur; 60) - "Svabo's glossary on Faroese folk tunes"
  • Ders .: Dictionarium Færoense - færøsk-dansk-latinsk ordbog . Munksgaard, Copenhagen 1966–70, 2 volumes (Færoensia, Textus & investigationes, 7-8) - "Faroese dictionary - Faroese-Danish-Latin dictionary"
  • Indberetninger fra en Reise i Færøe 1781 and 1782 . CA Reitzels Boghandel, Copenhagen 1976, 497 p. (Unaltered reprint) - "Travel report from the Faroe Islands 1781-1782"

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Svabo, Jens Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first scholar to study the Faroese language
DATE OF BIRTH 1746
PLACE OF BIRTH Miðvágur , Faroe Islands
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 1824
Place of death Tórshavn