Jacob Christian Jacobsen (2 September 1811 – 30 April 1887), mostly known as J. C. Jacobsen, was a Danish

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

and philanthropist best known for founding the brewery

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carls ...

Biography

He had no formal academic or scientific training (although he had attended some lectures by

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted ( , ; often rendered Oersted in English; 14 August 17779 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricit ...

). In the 1840s, he had come to realise that production of beer, which had until then been done in numerous small

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer ...

, now had to be based on the scientific method in order to be industrialized. Starting in 1847, he established his brewery Carlsberg in

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single ...

on the outskirts of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, on a site where it has remained since. He named the brewery after his son,

Carl Jacobsen Carl Christian Hillman Jacobsen (2 March 1842 – 11 January 1914) was a Danish brewer, art collector and philanthropist. Though often preoccupied with his cultural interests, Jacobsen was a shrewd and visionary businessman and initiated the t ...

. Being extremely vigorous in the pursuit of producing high quality beer, he founded the

Carlsberg Laboratory The Carlsberg Research Laboratory is a private scientific research center in Copenhagen, Denmark under the Carlsberg Group. It was founded in 1875 by J. C. Jacobsen, the founder of the Carlsberg brewery, with the purpose of advancing biochemica ...

in 1875. He took much interest in public affairs and supported the National Liberal Party – becoming gradually more conservative – both as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for some periods between 1854 and 1871 and as a strong supporter of the Danish defense. He served on the

Copenhagen City Council The Copenhagen City Council (Danish: ) is the municipal government of Copenhagen, Denmark, and has its seat at Copenhagen City Hall. The city council is Copenhagen's highest political authority and sets the framework for the committees' task ...

from 1843 to 1857. Moreover he was a well-known patron of the arts. After the fire of Frederiksborg Palace in 1859, he funded the reconstruction efforts. In 1876, Jacobsen founded the

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation ( da, Carlsbergfondet) was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Palace. ...

() which he endowed with a controlling stake in Carlsberg, due to family tensions. A bitter conflict with his son Carl led to the latter's foundation of the (New Carlsberg) Brewery 1882. A reconciliation was however obtained in 1886. His son

collected one of the largest private art collections during his time. It is now housed in the

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root ''glyphein'', to carve, and ''theke'', storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection ...

, a museum founded by him in Copenhagen.

Personal life

Jacobsen was married to Laura Cathrine Holst (1819–1911) and was the father of Carl Jacobsen (1842–1919). In 1879, he became an honorary doctor of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

Faculty of Science and in 1884 he was bestowed Commander 1st class of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

, a Danish order of chivalry.

References

Literature

* Danish brewers Danish industrialists 19th-century Danish businesspeople 19th-century Copenhagen City Council members Danish company founders Danish philanthropists Businesspeople from Copenhagen 1811 births 1887 deaths 19th-century philanthropists Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog {{Denmark-business-bio-stub

Biography

Personal life

See also

References

Literature