Anders Sandøe Ørsted (21 December 1778 – 1 May 1860) was a Danish
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
,
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
. He served as the
Prime Minister of Denmark
The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islan ...
in 1853–1854.
Biography
He studied philosophy and law at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
and was admitted to the bar in 1799. He became a noted jurist. An early case overseen by him was that of
Hans Jonatan
Hans Jonatan (1784– 18 December 1827; also known as Hans Jonathan) was an escaped slave, soldier, farmer and trader. Following his participation in the Battle of Copenhagen (1801), Battle of Copenhagen, after which he was initially given his fr ...
, an escaped slave, which was (at least viewed retrospectively) a major test case in Danish law on slavery; Anders condemned Hans to be returned to the West Indies, where he had been purchased (Hof-og Stadsret: ''Generalmajorinde Henriette de Schimmelmann contra mulatten Hans Jonathan 1802'').
Relatively early, he was connected to the national administration, and from 1825 to 1848, he was “''generalprokurør''” (juridical adviser of the government). He drew up the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
which was granted in 1831. He was cabinet minister 1842–48, and from October 1853 to December 1854 was prime minister. He was forced to resign from his office as prime minister by his unpopular conservatism, a distinct departure from his earlier politics. In 1855, he was impeached on the charge of breaking the constitution, but he was acquitted and retired to private life.
Analysis
He is considered one of the most important jurists in 19th century Danish legal history. He was a pioneer of connecting
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
and practice, and both as a judge and as an author, he successfully worked on making practice the foundation of legislation.
His political career was one of paradoxes. As a royal councillor of the absolute monarchy, he was rather liberal and tolerant and therefore often unpopular with the more conservative elements. As the opposition grew stronger however, he became more conservative and as prime minister, he was considered a full-blood reactionary. His attempt to charter a very conservative constitution led to cooperation between the king and the liberals that forced him to resign.
Literary works
Throughout his career Ørsted was a prolific writer. Among other things he wrote on
Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemolo ...
ian and
Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
ian philosophy, on Danish and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
law, on
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n politics (1857) and left an autobiography (1856). He was also the editor of several journals, most notable ''Juridisk Arkiv'' (1804-1812), ''Nyt Juridisk Arkiv'' (1812-1830) and ''Juridisk Tidsskrift'' (1820-1840), as well as the official government periodical publication ''Collegial-Tidende'' (1815-34 co-edited with Peter Johan Monrad, and exclusively by Ørsted 1834–1848).
Family
He was the brother of noted physicist
Hans Christian Ørsted
Hans Christian Ørsted ( , ; often rendered Oersted in English; 14 August 17779 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricity ...
(1777–1851), and uncle of the botanist
Anders Sandøe Ørsted
Anders Sandøe Ørsted (21 December 1778 – 1 May 1860) was a Danish lawyer, politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark in 1853–1854.
Biography
He studied philosophy and law at the University of Copenhagen and was ...
(1816–1872).
He was married to
Sophie Ørsted
Sophie Wilhelmine Bertha Ørsted ( née Oehlenschläger; 16 July 1782 – 9 February 1818) was a Danish socialite and muse. Brought up in a literary environment in Copenhagen, she was the sister of writer Adam Oehlenschläger (1779–1850) and ...
née Oehlenschläger (1782–1818) and was the brother-in-law of
Adam Oehlenschläger
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthems ...
.
References
Other sources
*''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'', vol. 16, 1984.
*Svend Thorsen: ''De danske ministerier'', vol 1., Copenh. 1967.
*
List of Danish Prime Ministers Since 1848
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsted, Anders Sandoe
1778 births
1860 deaths
19th-century Danish jurists
19th-century Danish lawyers
19th-century Danish politicians
People from Langeland Municipality
Danish Interior Ministers
Danish Kultus Ministers
Prime Ministers of Denmark
Members of the Landsting (Denmark)
University of Copenhagen alumni
Members of the Constituent Assembly of Denmark