Jacob Aall (27 July 1773 – 4 August 1844) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, landowner and government economist. He was born the son of Nicolai Benjamin Aall (1739-1798), who was a merchant in

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and owner of Ulefos Manor. He was also the nephew of merchant Jacob Aall (1754-1826).

Career

In 1791, Aall began attending a school in

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Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

where he earned a degree in

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in 1795. After graduating, he returned to Norway where he tried working as a

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, but he felt that his abilities were not well at use and decided to take up other studies. In 1796, he returned to Copenhagen, where he began studying natural science. In 1797, he journeyed to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, touring the scientific schools of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

and

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. In Germany he became acquainted with the

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Abraham Gottlob Werner Abraham Gottlob Werner (; 25 September 174930 June 1817) was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded a history of the Earth that came to be known as Neptunism. While most tenet ...

. In 1799, after spending the winter at the academy of mines in

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

, Aall returned to Norway. Following his father's death, he invested his patrimony in the purchase of the immense Nes Iron-works in the Arendal ore region. After purchasing the iron-works, the operation became more efficient, but was placed in a difficult position at the outbreak of the English Wars in 1801. However, the business persevered. In 1814 he took a prominent part in the framing of the free Constitution of Norway, and for fourteen years (1816-1830), he was a leading member of the Storting, the Norwegian National Assembly. As a writer, he translated and published Snorri Sturluson's ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

''. His ''Reminisciences'' (1844-1845) is a repository of data concerning the contemporaneous history of the Scandinavian peninsula. In his later years, Aall increasingly withdrew from public life, and left most of the work at the iron-works to his son.

Personal life

In 1799 he married Louise Andrea Stephansen (1779-1825), with whom he had at least one son.

Legacy

Aall lent his name to Jacob Aall Street in

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. He was one of the 41 Norwegian citizens who helped make the creation of the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(previously named Royal Frederick University) possible through donations. Aall was bestowed upon the Medal for Bogerdåd, the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

and the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

. He was a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and the Royal Danish Science Ernes Society.

References

*The original version of this article was taken directly from the ''New Americanized Encyclopædia Britannica (Twentieth Century Edition)'', The Saalfield Publishing Company, Akron, Ohio, 1903. *Parliament member periods were fetched fro
NSD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aall, Jakob Members of the Storting 1773 births 1844 deaths 19th-century Norwegian historians Fathers of the Constitution of Norway Politicians from Porsgrunn Jakob Place of death missing