Hartvig Caspar Christie (1 December 1826 – 3 March 1873) was a Norwegian mineralogist and physicist.

Personal life

He was born in

Trondhjem Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

as a son of naval commander Hartvig Caspar Christie (1788–1869) and Martha Sophia Sylow. He was a grandnephew of Werner Hosewinckel Christie, a nephew of

Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (7 December 1778 – 10 October 1849) was a Norwegian attorney. He was a member of the National Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814 and served as the Norwegian Constituent Assembly secretary. Background Born in Kristiansu ...

and

Edvard Eilert Christie Edvard Eilert Christie (10 August 1773 – 14 August 1831) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician. He was a son of postmaster and merchant in Christianssund, Johann Koren Christie (1745–1823). He was a nephew of Werner Hosewinckel Chris ...

and a first cousin of

Hans Langsted Christie Hans Langsted Christie (1826–1907) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. He was born in Fridalen in Aarstad, a son of customs treasurer Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1785–1872).Christian Christie Eilert Christian Brodtkorb Christie (24 December 1832 – 13 September 1906) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Bergen as a son of customs officer Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1785–1872) and Hansine Langsted (1802–1864) ...

and Johan Koren Christie. In January 1859 in Christiania he married Margaretha Sophie Bonnevie (1831–1913). The couple had eight children, and they were grandparents of politician Hartvig Caspar Christie. Through his wife, Christie was a brother-in-law of politician

Jacob Aall Bonnevie Jacob Aall Bonnevie (31 December 1838 – 13 August 1904) was a Norwegian educator, school director and text book author. He served as a member of the Norwegian Parliament for the Conservative Party. Biography Bonnevie was born in Christi ...

, a son-in-law of politician

Honoratus Bonnevie Honoratus Bonnevie (5 December 1726 – 8 November 1811) was a Norwegian physician. He was born in Odense, Denmark as the son of Honoré Bonnevie and his wife Boel Corneliusdatter. His mother hailed from Svelvik, Norway whereas his father hailed ...

and an uncle of professor

Kristine Bonnevie Kristine Elisabeth Heuch Bonnevie (8 October 1872 – 30 August 1948) was a Norwegian biologist, Norway's first female professor, women's rights activist and politician for the Free-minded Liberal Party. Her fields of research were cytology, genet ...

, judge

Thomas Bonnevie Thomas Bonnevie (12 September 1879 – 19 May 1960) was a Norwegian Supreme Court justice. Biography Bonnevie was born at Trondheim, Norway. He was a son of Member of Parliament and cabinet minister Jacob Aall Bonnevie (1838–1904) and Anne Joh ...

and politician Carl Emil Christian Bonnevie.

Career

He finished secondary school at

Trondheim Cathedral School Trondheim Cathedral School ( no, Trondheim katedralskole, Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is an upper secondary school located next to the Nidaros Cathedral in the center of Trondheim, Norway. History There is great dispute regarding ...

in 1844, and took the cand.miner. degree in 1848. He worked at

Kongsberg Silver Mines Kongsberg Silver works () was a mining operation at Kongsberg in Viken county in Norway. The town of Kongsberg is the site of the Norwegian Mining Museum (). History Operating from over 80 different sites, Kongsberg silver mines constituted th ...

from 1849 to 1851, and was hired at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1851. After a hiatus in the second half of the 1850s, he was hired as a lecturer in 1859. He succeeded Lorentz Christian Langberg, who died in 1857, and was hired in competition with

Adam Arndtsen Adam Frederik Oluf Arndtsen (15 December 1829 – 7 August 1919) was a Norwegian professor and physicist. Biography Arndtsen was born at Alstahaug in Nordland, Norway. He was the son of Ole Arndtsen (1786-1846) and Wilhelmina Castberg (1788-1853). ...

. He also became a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...

. He was a professor at the Royal Frederick University from 1866 to his death. He also held lectures in physics,

geognosy Abraham Gottlob Werner (; 25 September 174930 June 1817) was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded a history of the Earth that came to be known as Neptunism. While most tene ...

and

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

at the Norwegian Military College, and helped establish Kristiania Technical School (today a part of

Oslo University College Oslo University College ( no, Høgskolen i Oslo; HiO) was the largest state university college in Norway from 1994 to 2011, with more than 18,000 students and approximately 1800 employees.

). From 1857 to 1859 Christie had studied in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

under

Wilhelm Eduard Weber Wilhelm Eduard Weber (; ; 24 October 1804 – 23 June 1891) was a German physicist and, together with Carl Friedrich Gauss, inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph. Biography of Wilhelm Early years Weber was born in Schlossstrasse in ...

. Among others, he measured

diamagnetism Diamagnetic materials are repelled by a magnetic field; an applied magnetic field creates an induced magnetic field in them in the opposite direction, causing a repulsive force. In contrast, paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials are attracted ...

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental ...

. He also studied in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

under

Henri Victor Regnault Henri Victor Regnault (21 July 1810 – 19 January 1878) was a French chemist and physicist best known for his careful measurements of the thermal properties of gases. He was an early thermodynamicist and was mentor to William Thomson in ...

. The work on diamagnetism in bismuth was his only published thesis, but he became known for his textbooks in physics. He released a textbook for the university level, in two volumes in 1864 and 1865, and a textbook for upper secondary schools in 1871. The latter was translated to both

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. He was a subeditor for the journal ''Polyteknisk tidsskrift'' from 1855 to 1857, and from 1855 to 1856 he was the chairman of the

Norwegian Polytechnic Society The Polytechnic Society ( no, Polyteknisk Forening) is a Norwegian member network that inspires a science-based and sustainable development, through technology and interdisciplinary partnerships. It was founded in 1852 in Christiania (now: Oslo). Th ...

. He was also a board member of the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...

, the

National Gallery of Norway The National Gallery ( no, Nasjonalgalleriet) is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. , the admission cost is 100 Norwegian kroner. History It was establishe ...

and the

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry The National College of Art and Design ( no, Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole) was established in 1818. In 1996 the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts The Oslo National Academy of the A ...

. He became involved in politics, was a member of the executive committee of the city council from 1869, served as deputy mayor from 1 January 1873 and after the 1873 Norwegian parliamentary election he became a deputy member of the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

. He never got the chance to meet in Parliament, as he died in March 1873 due to complications from

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

surgery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Hartvig Caspar 1826 births 1873 deaths People from Trondheim Norwegian mineralogists Norwegian physicists Academic staff of the University of Oslo Academic staff of the Norwegian Military College Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Politicians from Oslo Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian people of Scottish descent