Vilhelm Frederik Treschow (15 September 1786 – 2 April 1869) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

supreme court attorney, politician, landowner and philanthropist. He founded Treschows Stiftelse 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 ...

Early life and education

Frederik Treschow was born in

to Supreme Court justice

Michael Treschow Niels Michael Aage Treschow (born April 22, 1943) is a Swedish businessman. As chairman of the board of both Unilever since 2007 and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, and former chairman of Ericsson, Treschow is one of the most influenti ...

(1741–1816) and Christina E. Wasserfall (1753–1823). He graduated from

Roskilde Cathedral School Roskilde Cathedral School ( da, Roskilde Katedralskole, Roskilde Domskole) is a historic high school in Roskilde, Denmark. It was established around 1020 with close connections to Roskilde Cathedral. The school has since 1969 been located on Holbæ ...

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

in 1803 after initially attending the Metropolitan School in Copenhagen. He studied law at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

under the guidance of

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 ...

and graduated in 1806.

Career

He worked for the court, , from 1909 and became a supreme court attorney in 1811. Treschow was considered one of the best barristers of his generation. He had many clients in the business world and represented the Danish Asia Company in a number of cases about the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The ...

. In 1820–1821, he defended Jacob Jacobsen Dampe and in 1825–1826 he represented Grundtvigs against H. N. Clausen in a case about defamation and paid his fine of 100

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were ofte ...

. In 1828, he was appointed procurator fiscal. He prosecuted C. N. Davids in 1836 and

Orla Lehmann Peter Martin Orla Lehmann (15 May 1810 – 13 September 1870) was a Danish statesman, a key figure in the development of Denmark's parliamentary government. He was born in Copenhagen, son of (1775–1856), assessor, later conference councillo ...

in 1842 before resigning in 1846 when the government, against his advice, insisted on continuing the trial against the speakers at the Student Meeting of 1845 (Orla Lehmann, H. F. Poulsen and Frederik Helweg) who were all found not guilty. From 1828 to 1833 and again from 1840–1845, 1849–1854 and 1858–1863, he represented the Bank of Denmark (from 1832 as chairman) and became a member of the commission in the so-called Twelve Million Case in 1838.

Landowner

In 1828, he acquired Brahesborg on the island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

. In 1835, he also acquired the former countship of

Laurvig Larvik () is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality of Larvik has about 46,364 inhabitants. The municipality has a 110 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

with Fritzøe Ironworks. He modernized the management of the estate and founded the Vilhelmsborg estate in 1846–1847. He was also the owner of the

Barchmann Mansion Barchmann Mansion () is a Baroque style town mansion overlooking Frederiksholm Canal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Built in the early 1740s to designs by Philip de Lange, it is also known as the Wedell Mansion (Danish: ''Wedells Palæ'') after t ...

in Copenhagen from 1837. In 1854, he ceded the two estates to his two sons. His adopted step-son Frederik Wilhelm Treschow received Brahesborg while his son Michael Treschow received Frizøe, where he already acted as manager.

Politician

Treschow participated in the work leading to the adoption of the

Constitution of Denmark The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Riges Grundlov), also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution ( da, Grundloven, fo, Grundlógin, kl, Tunngaviusumik inatsit), is the c ...

as a representative appointed by the king. He was a member of

Landstinget Landstinget was the upper house of the Rigsdag (the parliament of Denmark), from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished in favour of unicameralism. Landstinget had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of parl ...

from 1849 until 1863.

Philanthropy

Treschow was the administrator of numerous trusts, including Admiral Winterfeldts Stiftelse "Trøstens Bolig" which provided affordable housing for needy women. This may have inspired him to build similar facilities at his own expense. The first was built in the courtyard behind the Admiral building in 1847. The next was built in Christianshavn and consisted of two buildings completed in 1853 and 1857 to designs by Christian Tybjerg. In 1859, Treschow founded (The Treschow Foundation).

Honorary titles and awards

He was appointed in 1824, in 1829, in 1846 and in 1854. He became a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1838 and received the

Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

in 1840. He became a Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1848 and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Dannebrog in 1850.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treschow, Frederik 1869 deaths 19th-century Danish lawyers Members of the Landsting (Denmark) Danish philanthropists University of Copenhagen alumni Politicians from Copenhagen Lawyers from Copenhagen 19th-century Danish politicians 1786 births 19th-century philanthropists