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

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

Porsgrunn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Porsgrunn (town), city ...

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 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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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 Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

. In 1797, he journeyed to

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, touring the scientific schools of

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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 A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chem ...

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

Freiberg Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...

, Aall returned to Norway. Following his father's death, he invested his

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in the purchase of the immense Nes Iron-works in the

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

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 The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

, and for fourteen years (1816-1830), he was a leading member of the

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, the Norwegian National Assembly. As a writer, he translated and published Snorri Sturluson's ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

''. His ''Reminisciences'' (1844-1845) is a repository of data concerning the contemporaneous history of the

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. 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

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 one of the 41 Norwegian citizens who helped make the creation of the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

(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 founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

and the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

. 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 1773 births 1844 deaths 19th-century Norwegian historians Fathers of the Constitution of Norway Politicians from Porsgrunn Jakob Place of death missing Members of the Storting 1839–1841 Members of the Storting 1830–1832 Members of the Storting 1827–1829 Members of the Storting 1821–1823 Members of the Storting 1815–1817