Erich Christian Werlauff (2 July 1781 - 5 June 1871) was a Danish

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, librarian and professor.

Biography

Werlauff was born 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 son of Norwegian-born merchant ship captain (''koffardikapitajn'') Jens Werlauff (1746–86) and Wilhelmine Frederike Wirth (1747-1804). In 1798 Werlauff became custodian of the Royal Library's reading room. In 1802 he graduated with honors from 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 ...

. He worked until 1861 at the university library. He was second secretary in 1805, the first secretary in 1814, librarian in 1823 and head librarian in 1829. After receiving his

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

in 1808 on the thesis ''The Ario multiscio, antiquissimo Islandorum historico'' Werlauff was appointed assistant professor at the university (15 August 1810). On 24 February 1812, he became professor extraordinarius and 5 December 1821 professor ordinarius. From 1836 to 1837 he was university rector. Werlauff retired from the university on 31 December 1867. He was a member of the Royal Danish Society for History from 1806, the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

from 1820 and the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA ( sv, Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or or ) is the Swedish royal ...

from 1830. In 1841, he became Commander of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

and in 1855 he received the Grand Cross. He died in Copenhagen and was buried at

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. ...

Selected works

*''Historiske Efterretninger om det store kongelige Bibliothek'' (1825) *''Udsigt over Kjøbenhavns Universitetsbygnings Historie'' (1836) *''Det kongelige danske Selskab for Fædrelandets Historie og Sprog'' (1847) *''Kjøbenhavns Universitet fra dets Stiftelse indtil Reformationen'' (1850)

References

Literature

* List of the deceased Conferentsraad Dr. phil. Erik Christian Werlauff surviving collection of books, chiefly falling to Northern history, Copenhagen 1871 * Erich Christian Werlauff: ''Of my youth Time: Danish, especially kjøbenhavnske, modes and moods at and after transition to the nineteenth century: EC Werlauff's surviving records''. Published by Hans Degen, Hagerup: Copenhagen 1954. Originally published under the title ''Danish, especially kjøbenhavnske Modes and moods at and after transition to the nineteenth century: Abandoned Records in 1874'' by F. Schiern. * Erich Christian Werlauff: ''Memoirs of My Life''. Published by Julius Clausen and P.Fr. Rist ( Memoirs and Letters, 13), Copenhagen 1910, Reprint 1968. * Gerhard Munthe, "Library Director Werlauff and his relations with Norwegian researchers". p 5–43 in the journal 'Library History', Vol. 3, 1990.

Note

This article is based partly on his biography in the first edition of the ''Danish Biographical Lexicon'', Published by CF Bricka, Gyldendal (1887-1905).

External links

Erich Christian Werlauff works
WorldCat {{DEFAULTSORT:Werlauff, Erich Christian 1781 births 1871 deaths Academics from Copenhagen 19th-century Danish historians Danish librarians University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters