Jakob Neumann Mohn (31 May 1838 – 16 February 1882) was a Norwegian

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

Personal life

He was born in Bergen as a son of Albert Henrik Mohn (1811–1894) and Ida Neumann (1814–1864). Originally named Jacob, he changed the spelling. He was a brother of Henrik and Emanuel Mohn. On the maternal side, he was a grandson of bishop Jacob Neumann. In July 1866 he married Valeria Paasche (1843–1912). He was a granduncle of Frank and

Albert Henrik Mohn Albert Henrik Mohn (25 November 1918 – 9 May 1999) was a Norwegian journalist and correspondent. He was born in Bergen as a son of ship-owner and captain Sigurd Mohn (1885–1959) and Margrete Oettinger (1893–1985). He was a brother of Frank ...

, and since his daughter Hanna married physician and politician

Nils Yngvar Ustvedt Nils Yngvar Ustvedt (29 April 1868 – 16 October 1938) was a Norwegian medical doctor and politician for the Conservative Party. He worked as chief physician at Ullevål Hospital from 1916 to 1935, and before this he served one term in the Norwe ...

, Mohn was a grandfather of

Hans Jacob Ustvedt Hans Jacob Neumann Ustvedt (4 July 1903 – 26 January 1982) was a Norwegian medical doctor and broadcasting administrator. He was a driving force of the doctors' resistance during World War II, had to flee to Sweden in 1942, and was leading ...

Career

He finished his secondary education at

Bergen Cathedral School Bergen Cathedral School (Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Loc ...

in 1855, and graduated from the Royal Fredercik University with the

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree already in 1859. He was soon hired in the Statistics Office, and together with

Anders Nicolai Kiær Anders Nicolai Kiær (Drammen, 15 September 1838 – Oslo, 16 April 1919) was a Norwegian statistician who first proposed that a representative sample rather than a complete enumerating survey could and should be used to collect information about ...

he led its transition into an independent research directorate, renamed ''Det statistiske Centralbureau'' in 1876. Norway as a country implemented the use of large, quantitative statistics in politics quite early. The initiator was the priest and researcher Eilert Sundt, and Mohn. Mohn was also involved in the workers' society Christiania Arbeidersamfund, and through his research on

child labour Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

among other things, he capacitated social reform. His last work was ''Norges Land og Folk'', requisitioned by the Norwegian Parliament in 1874, and meant to be a grand reference work. However, he never finished a single volume, as he died in February 1882 in Kristiania. His work was carried on by Anders Nicolai Kiær and

Boye Strøm Boye Christian Riis Strøm (18 June 1847 – 1930) was a Norwegian statistician and civil servant. He was born in Grue, and graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 1870. He was the director of Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Stat ...

References

1838 births 1882 deaths Norwegian statisticians University of Oslo alumni Scientists from Bergen People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School {{europe-mathematician-stub