Norwegian Clergyman, Zoologist, and Naturalist. He is best associated with his topographical description of the traditional district of Sunnmøre, Norway. The son of a Lutheran minister, he attended the Bergen Cathedral School. He was educated as a Lutheran clergyman and in 1745 he received a theological degree at the University of Copenhagen. Form 1750 until 1764 he served as chaplain in Borgund, Norway. In 1764 he became a parish priest, first in Volda, Norway where he served until 1779, then at Eiker, Norway, where he served as Vicar for 18 years. He was the first Norwegian who gave species descriptions for Norwegian animals. The results of his research was published as "Physisk og Oeconomisk Beskrivelse over Fogderiet Søndmør I–II", a work that established his reputation as a scientific authority. He later followed up this work with a number of articles, particularly where the natural sciences were strongly represented. In 1760 he co-founded the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, with Gerhard Schoning, the historian, and Johan Ernst Gunnerus, bishop of Trondheim. In 1779 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Additionally, he was elected as a member of a number of science academies in Norway, Denmark and Germany. He died at the age of 71.
Norwegian Clergyman, Zoologist, and Naturalist. He is best associated with his topographical description of the traditional district of Sunnmøre, Norway. The son of a Lutheran minister, he attended the Bergen Cathedral School. He was educated as a Lutheran clergyman and in 1745 he received a theological degree at the University of Copenhagen. Form 1750 until 1764 he served as chaplain in Borgund, Norway. In 1764 he became a parish priest, first in Volda, Norway where he served until 1779, then at Eiker, Norway, where he served as Vicar for 18 years. He was the first Norwegian who gave species descriptions for Norwegian animals. The results of his research was published as "Physisk og Oeconomisk Beskrivelse over Fogderiet Søndmør I–II", a work that established his reputation as a scientific authority. He later followed up this work with a number of articles, particularly where the natural sciences were strongly represented. In 1760 he co-founded the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, with Gerhard Schoning, the historian, and Johan Ernst Gunnerus, bishop of Trondheim. In 1779 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Additionally, he was elected as a member of a number of science academies in Norway, Denmark and Germany. He died at the age of 71.
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