Bishop Johannes Rudbeckius or ''Johannes Rudbeck'' (April 3, 1581–August 8, 1646), was

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

, Sweden from 1619 until his death and personal chaplain to King

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Biography

Johannes Rudbeck was born in Ormesta, Almby parish, outside

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

, Sweden. He was the son of Johan Pedersson Rudbeck (1550-1603) and Christina Pedersdtr Bose. He was a student at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

in 1598 and at

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

received his

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

in 1693. He was a professor of mathematics at Uppsala from 1604, professor of Hebrew from 1609 and professor of theology from 1611. He was made Bishop in the

Diocese of Västerås The Diocese of Västerås ( sv, Västerås stift) is a division of the Church of Sweden. Its home is in the Västerås Cathedral. History The diocese existed as a Catholic diocese from the 11th to the 16th century. The see was founded at Munkto ...

in 1618. In his capacity of bishop, he was restlessly active in organising. He founded the Swedish system of

parish register A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

s, ordering his parsons to file comments on every person in the parish. In 1623 he founded the first gymnasium, a school of

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

in Sweden. He also founded the first school for girls in Sweden, Rudbeckii flickskola, in 1632. Rudbeckius was considered politically suspect by his superiors but his reforms were gradually introduced in the whole country.

Personal life

With his second wife Magadalena Malin Carlsdotter (1602–1649), he had a son

Olaus Rudbeck Olaus Rudbeck (also known as Olof Rudbeck the Elder, to distinguish him from his son, and occasionally with the surname Latinized as ''Olaus Rudbeckius'') (13 September 1630 – 12 December 1702) was a Swedish scientist and writer, professor o ...

(1630–1702), who was a noted scientist of the 17th century. His grandson

Olof Rudbeck the Younger Olof Rudbeck the Younger or Olaus Rudbeckius d.y. (15 March 1660 – 23 March 1740) was a Swedish explorer, scientist, botanist, ornithologist and rector of Uppsala University. Biography Olof Rudbeck was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the son of Ola ...

(1660–1740) was a scientist, botanist and ornithologist. Bishop Rudbeckius' granddaughter, Wendela Rudbeck (1668–1710), married Peter Olai Nobelius (1655–1707) from whom descended Alfred Nobel (1833–1896).

References

1581 births 1646 deaths People from Örebro Uppsala University alumni University of Wittenberg alumni Uppsala University faculty Rectors of Uppsala University 17th-century Swedish Lutheran priests Bishops of Västerås 17th-century Swedish educators {{Lutheran-stub