Jørgen von Cappelen Knudtzon (28 April 178429 July 1854) was a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
businessman and patron of the arts. Born in
Trondheim
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 ...
to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he travelled to
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
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, postal ...
, Germany to study commerce. Upon his father's death, he inherited the family business, though his brother-in-law
Lorentz Johannsen became its director. With the family firm's trade ships Knudtzon often travelled to foreign destinations in Southeast Asia. At one occasion the ship wrecked; in the subsequent tumult he made friends with the Scot Alexander Baillie, with whom he would later travel around Europe.
His profound interest in art was expressed in his numerous donations to artists and his own art collection, which included both antiquities and contemporary artworks. The Danish sculptor
Bertel Thorvaldsen made sculptures of Knudtzon and Baillie; as an expression of gratitude, Knudtzon advocated the creation of a museum dedicated to Thorvaldsen 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 ...
.
Biography
Jørgen von Cappelen Knudtzon was born on 28 April 1784 in Trondheim; he was the second child of
Hans Carl Knudtzon (1751–1823), a merchant and politician, and Karen Knudtzon (''née'' Müller, 1752–1818). His father was born in
Bredstedt
Bredstedt ( nds, Bredstedt; da, Bredsted; North Frisian: ''Bräist'', ) is a town in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the North Sea coast, approximately 20 km northwest of Husum.
Notable pe ...
,
North Frisia
North Frisia (; ; ) is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany between the rivers Eider and Wiedau. It also includes the North Frisian Islands and Heligoland. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Nort ...
(now part of the German state of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
) and had established himself as a leading businessman in Trondheim.
[Bull, Ida.]
Hans Carl Knudtzon
" ''Norsk biografisk leksikon
is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia.
The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state.
bought the rights to ...
.'' Ed. Knut Helle. Vol. 5. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 2002. Web. 22 Dec. 2011. In 1794, with the family firm flourishing financially, Knudtzon enrolled at a military academy in Copenhagen. He was, however, contemptuous of a possible military career, and decided to travel to the German city of
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
to study commerce.
[ Bratberg, Terje.]
Jørgen Knudtzon – 2
" ''Norsk biografisk leksikon.'' Ed. Knut Helle. Vol. 5. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 2002. Web. 22 Dec. 2011.
Jørgen von Cappelen Knudtzon did not belong to the Norwegian Cappelen family but was named after a friend of his father from that family.
Following his father's death, his brother-in-law
Lorentz Johannsen (1769–1837) became director of the family business. Knudtzon saw the opportunity to travel to foreign destinations as
supercargo
A supercargo (from Spanish ''sobrecargo'') is a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship. The duties of a supercargo are defined by admiralty law and include managing the cargo owner's trade, selling the merchand ...
on the firm's trade ships; he once travelled to the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
in a ship that wrecked near
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. On the rescue ship he met the young Scot Alexander Baillie, who became his friend and lifelong associate. They travelled around together in Europe, meeting
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
,
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
and the sculptor
Bertel Thorvaldsen.
[
On his return from Europe, Knudtzon established himself as a benefactor in Trondheim. With his profound interest in art, he gave donations to Norwegian artists and maintained a personal art collection with artworks from both antiquity and his own time. In the years 1815–1816, Bertel Thorvaldsen made busts of Jørgen Knudtzon, Jørgen's father and Baillie, which Jørgen's brother ]Broder Knudtzon
Broder Lysholm Knudtzon (5 October 178820 March 1864) was a Norwegian merchant, politician and benefactor. Born into one of Trondheim's wealthiest mercantile families, he travelled to England where he developed a great admiration of English langu ...
subsequently bequeathed to the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters
The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters ( da, Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab, DKNVS) is a Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The ...
. In the later years of his life, Knudtzon championed the creation of the Thorvaldsen Museum
The Thorvaldsen Museum is a single-artist museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, dedicated to the art of Danish Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), who lived and worked in Rome for most of his life (1796–1838). The museum is locat ...
which opened during 1848 in Copenhagen.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knudtzon, Jorgen Von Cappelen
1784 births
1854 deaths
Norwegian businesspeople
Norwegian art collectors
People from Trondheim