Jørgen Erik (Erich) Skeel (Scheel) (4 February 1737 - 11 January 1795) was a Danish court official who served as prime minister (''geheimestatsminister'') of Denmark-Norway from 1789 until his death in 1795. Prior to that, he had held a number of key positions in the country's financial administration. He had also served as governor of a number of counties and dioceses in Denmark and Norway, most notably as diocesan governor of Akershus. He had also served as one of the directors of the

Danish Asiatic Company Danish Asiatic Company (Danish language, Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish-Norwegian trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East Ind ...

Early life and education

Skeel was born at Nordborg Castle on Als, the son of Holger Skeel (1699–1764) and Regitze Skeel née Güldencrone (1706–79). His father served as county governor of Nordborg and

Ærø Ærø () is one of the Denmark, Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Region of Southern Denmark, Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 all of Ærø has constituted a single Municipalities of Denmark, municipality, known as Ærø M ...

, was later promoted to diocesan governor of

Ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,367 (2025). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It is now part of the enlarged E ...

and then to diocesan governor of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

and county governor of

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. The father owned the estates

Birkelse Birkelse is a village in North Jutland, Denmark. It is located in Jammerbugt Municipality. The town has nearly grown together with the nearby village of Ryå. History A train station was located in Birkelse between 1897 and 1969. It was a stop o ...

and Mullerup. The two estates were later passed down to Skeel's elder brothers Andreas Skeel and Frederik Christian Skeel. A third brother was Vilhelm Mathias Skeel. Jørgen Erik Skeel attended

Sorø Academy Sorø Academy ( Danish: ''Sorø Akademi'') is a boarding school and gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by ...

. Six

Career

Skeel started his career as an assistant in

Rentekammeret The Rentekammeret (English: The Treasury) was the Danish central administrative body responsible for overseeing the public finances from the middle of the 15th century until 1849. The chief officials of Rentekammeret held the title of ''Rentemester' ...

. In 1755 he was appointed as ''hofjunker'' (court page). In 1758, he was promoted to ''kammerjunker''. In 1760, he was also promoted to a more senior post (''kommiteret'') in Rentekammeret. In 1762, he was appointed as one of the directors of the

. In 1766, he was sent to Norway as diocesan governor of Bergen and county governor of Søndre Bergenhus County. In 1768, he returned to Copenhagen to assume a post as 3rd councillor (''3. deputeret'') in the finance college (promoted to 2nd councillor in 1770). In 770, he was also appointed as one of the directors of the foundation ''Fonden ad usus publicos''. He was also made a member of a number of commissions. One of them was tasked with solving a dispute with local residents of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

in relation to the payment of extra taxes. The commission was sent to Bornholm on board the frigate HDMS ''Hvide Ørn'' (Capt.

Peter Schiønning Peter Christian Schiønning (15 August 1732 - 7 August 1813) was a Denmark, Danish naval officer. His diary provides a detailed first hand account of the life of a Danish naval officer in the second half of the 18th century. Early life and educat ...

has provided a detailed account of the expedition in his diary). In 1771, when J. F. Struensees dismissed most of the central administration, Skeel was sent to

Sønderjylland Southern Jutland (; ) is the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark and north of the Eider (river) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The region north of the Kongeå is called . Both territories had their own ting assemblies in the Midd ...

as county governor of Rønder County. After Struene's fall, he was reinstalled in his old posts as councillor in the finance college and as director of the Founded ''as usus publicus''. He was also admitted to the Overskettedirektion. He was also part of the co0mmitte that was set up to handle the divorce between the king and After criticizing the new leaders, he was sent back to Sønderjylland, now as ''kanddrot'' in Pinneberg. In 1755 sent back to Norway to assume the post as diocesan governor of Akershus. He was also made a member of a commission set up to investigate complaints against the local governoment officials. In 1788, he returned to Copenhagen. Back in Copenhagen, Skeel was initially appointed President of the Supreme Court, only to be promoted to Prime Minister shortly after, before he had time to assume the former office. He was also appointed as 1st Councillor in ''Vestindisk-Guineiske Rente- og Generaltoldkammer. He was a member of a number of commissions. One of them was the commission regarding the abolishion of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Personal life

Skeel was married to Anna Dorothea von

Ahlefeldt The House of Ahlefeldt is an ancient German and Danish noble family. It has identical coat of arms with the von Rumohr, von Bosendahl and von Rastorp German noble families, which indicates that they have descended from one House. Legend Accor ...

(1743-1805) on 30. august 1765. She was the daughter of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Hans Heinrich von Ahlefeldt (1711-1765) and his wife, Frederikke Krag (1724-1756). Anna Dorothea acted as '' hofdame'' for Princess Louise. The pair had eight children, two sons and six daughters.https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00482168&tree=LEO Skeel was a free mason (St. Martin's Lodge), He died unexpectedly on 11 January 1794. He is buried at Copenhagen's

Assistens Cemetery An Assistens Cemetery () is a cemetery that functions as an expansion of another, older cemetery often in relation to a city church. Already by the end of the 17th century, Danish authorities deemed that the conditions for inner-city cemeteries we ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Jørgen Erich Scheel
in the Business Encyclopedia of the Oldenburg Monarchy 18th-century Danish politicians County governors of Denmark County governors of Norway Directors of the Danish Asiatic Company Skeel family People from Sønderborg Municipality 1732 births 1795 deaths