Christian Frederik Joachim Schmiegelow (4 September 1859 - 12 November 1949) was a Danish businessman. A co-founder of
Dampskibsselskabet Torm
TORM based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a shipping company that owns and operates product tankers. The Company's product tankers carry refined oil products such as gasoline, jet fuel, naphtha and diesel oil.
History
Torm was founded by Ditlev ...
, later worked for the
East Asiatic Company
The EAC Invest A/S, formerly known as the Santa Fe Group and East Asiatic Company ( da, italic=yes, Det Østasiatiske Kompagni or ''ØK'') is a multinational holding and investment company, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
History
The East Asiat ...
where he was part of the management from 1909 to 1935.
Early life and education
Schmiegelow was born in
Rønne
Rønne ( sv, Rönne) is the largest town on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,807 (1 January 2022). It was a municipality in its own right from 1970 until 2002, when Bornholm was a county (Danish: ''Bornh ...
on the island of
Bornholm
Bornholm () is a 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. It has usually been ruled by ...
, the son of pharmacist Fritz Adolph Schmiegelow (1819–62) and Johanne Barbara Arboe (1827–66). His father died of
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
in 1862 and his mother died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in 1866. Schmiegelow then grew up in the household of a paternal uncle, Ernst Schmiegelow, who was a master painter in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. The family lived at
Sankt Peders Stræde
Sankt Peder Stræde is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from Nørregade to Jarmers Plads, crossing Larsbjørnsstræde, Teglgårdsstræde and Larslejsstræde on the way. The eponymous St. Peter's Church is located at the beginnin ...
27. Schmiegelow attended Borgerdyd School in
Christianshavn
Christianshavn (literally, "ingChristian's Harbour") is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of th ...
.
He went to sea at the age of 15, acquired solid practical experience as a seaman on ships under different flags. He almost died from typhoid fever on a voyage to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He was educated as a navigator at the
Navigation School in Copenhagen in 1880–81..
Career
When Ditlev Torm founded
Dampskibsselskabet Torm
TORM based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a shipping company that owns and operates product tankers. The Company's product tankers carry refined oil products such as gasoline, jet fuel, naphtha and diesel oil.
History
Torm was founded by Ditlev ...
in 1889, it was with Schmiegelow as captain of its first steam vessel. In 1898, he accepted an offer from
Hans Niels Andersen
Hans Niels Andersen (10 September 1852 – 30 December 1937) was a Danish shipping magnate, businessman, diplomat and founder of the East Asiatic Company.
Early life
Born into a working-class family in Nakskov, he trained as a shipbuilder befor ...
to join the
East Asiatic Company
The EAC Invest A/S, formerly known as the Santa Fe Group and East Asiatic Company ( da, italic=yes, Det Østasiatiske Kompagni or ''ØK'') is a multinational holding and investment company, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
History
The East Asiat ...
. He continued in Torm as a board member and from 1898 as chairman of the board.
In his work for the East Asiatic Company, during the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
, together with captain Christian Cold, Schmiegelow was responsible for organizing transportation of troops to East Asia from South Russian ports. He was a member of the company's board of directors from 1909 to1935. He played a central role in expanding the company's fleet and the transition from steam vessels to modern ships. He was also active as a board member in a number of associated companies, including Dampskibsselskabet Orient, soyakagefabrikken and Det Østasiatiske Industri- og Plantagekompagni. He became a board member of the parent company in 1927 and remained a member of it until his death. He was a board member of the
Free Port of Copenhagen
The Free Port of Copenhagen is a bonded area in the northern part of Port of Copenhagen of Copenhagen, Denmark. Created to consolidate Copenhagen's position as an important maritime hub in Northern Europe, it was established in the area just nort ...
from 1912 to 1942.
Personal life
Schmiegelow married Thyra Ingeborg Viola Meyer (18 March 1870 - 12 October 1905), a daughter of Johan Philip Ferdinand Meyer (1828–87) and actress Anna Marie Benedictsen (1835–74), on 25 August 1893 in Copenhagen. She bore him four children;mdash&one daughter and three sons;mdash&prior to her early death just 35 years old in 1905. He later married her sister, Olga Harriet Meyer (7 August 1863 - 6 April 1944), an actress, on 24 May 1911.
Schmiegelow shared his time between an apartment at Stavangergade 6 in Copenhagen and the summer residence Villa Skrænten on Sofievej in
Vedbæk
Vedbæk is a wealthy suburban neighbourhood on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It belongs to Rudersdal Municipality and has merged with the town of Hørsholm to the north. The area has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years, as evidenced ...
. He died on 12 November 1949 in Copenhagen. He is buried in
Assistens Cemetery
Assistens Cemetery ( da, Assistens Kirkegård) is the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark. The common nominator is, as the first part of the name implies (Latin: ''assistens'' meaning assisting), an assisting cemetery for a town's churches. ...
.
References
External links
Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmiegelow, Christian
19th-century Danish businesspeople
20th-century Danish businesspeople
Danish businesspeople in shipping
People from Bornholm
Danish company founders
1859 births
1949 deaths