Jacob Benzon (31 October 1688 – 25 November 1775) was a Danish nobleman, civil servant and Governor-general of Norway.

Career

Benzon's career began as a court

junker Junker (, , , , , , ka, იუნკერი, ) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German , meaning 'young nobleman'Duden; Meaning of Junker, in German/ref> or otherwise 'young lord' (derivation of and ). The term is traditionally ...

at the Royal Danish Cavalry Academy in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

1704–06. He held various state positions in Copenhagen 1715–1726. In 1726 he became a

amtmann __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff A bailiff is a ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and from 1730 to 1737 he held the same position in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. He was then amtmann of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

from 1740, Vice-Governor of Copenhagen 1747–50 and was from 1750 Vice- Governor-general of Norway. After Charles of Hesse had been the titular Governor-general of Norway for four years (1766–70) without residing in Norway, Benzon was appointed to Governor-general on 26 January 1770, a position he held for only one year. He was deposed on 8 February 1771, by

Johann Friedrich Struensee Count, Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish gov ...

, leaving the position vacant until 1809. In the Danish Biographical Lexicon, he is characterized by these statements: "He had gradually owned a number of manors in Denmark such as Aastrup,

Aggersvold Aggersvold is a manor house and estate located just north of Jyderup, Holbæk Municipality, some 80 kilometres west of Copenhagen, Denmark. Aggersvold traces its history back to the Middle Ages when it was referred to as Markegaard, taking its nam ...

and

Benzonsdal Benzonsdal is a manor house located at Torslunde, south of Taastrup, in the northern part of Ishøj Municipality, some 20 kilometres west of central Copenhagen, Denmark. It has been owned by members of the noble Lerche family since 1853. The main b ...

, which he again sold. He had a considerable wealth, which he, however, was partly regarded as having amassed by a stinginess which was unworthy of him." "As a Norwegian official for a long number of years, Benzon had acquired both insight into and interest in Norway's special internal affairs, which of course was evident in many ways in his tenure, and he also enjoyed general positive recognition in Norway." He became a knight of the

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

in 1731, and a knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

in 1763. Benzon was unmarried, and his fortune was inherited by a nephew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benzon, Jacob 1688 births 1775 deaths County governors of Norway Governors-general of Norway 18th-century Danish nobility Benzon family