Johan Sigismund von Mösting (2 November 1759 – 16 September 1843) was a Danish banker and prime minister (''geheimestatsminister''). He was a key figure in the foundation of Bank of Denmark in 1818. His name is today also associated with

Møstings Hus Møstings Hus (Møsting's House) is a small Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical country house now used as an exhibition space in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. A pond lies in front of the building. History 19th century M ...

("Møsting's House"), his former summer residence in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, Copenhagen, which is now used as an exhibition space.

Early life and education

Johan Sigismund von Mösting was born at Nygård on the island of

Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg Municipality, Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langeb ...

. His father was Frederik Christian von Møsting who was governor of the island. Johan Sigismund von Mösting studied jurisprudence at

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

, graduating in 1782.

Career

1813 he became director of the Danish Reichsbank. He subsequently served as Denmark's minister of finance until 1831, president of the Chamber of Finance and Prime Minister of the Danish Kings. In 1838 he served as Director of the King's library.

Astronomy

He helped promote interest in astronomy and was a significant figure in the founding of the scientific journal ''

Astronomische Nachrichten ''Astronomische Nachrichten'' (''Astronomical Notes''), one of the first international journals in the field of astronomy, was established in 1821 by the German astronomer Heinrich Christian Schumacher. It claims to be the oldest astronomical jour ...

''. The Mösting crater on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him.

Legacy

Møsting is buried at Frederiksberg Old Cemetery. His former country house in

is now ioerated as an exhibition space under the name

(Møsting's House). Cape Møsting in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

was named after him in 1829 by Lieutenant

Wilhelm August Graah Wilhelm August Graah (1793–1863) was a Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. Graah had mapped areas of West Greenland when he, in 1828–30, was sent by King Frederick VI of Denmark on an expedition to the unmapped eastern coast with ...

(1793–1863).W. A. Graah, ''Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland, London, 1837'', p. 67

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosting, Sigismund Government ministers of Denmark Danish bankers People from Møn 1759 births 1843 deaths

Early life and education

Career

Astronomy

Legacy

See also

References