Hans Morten Thrane Esmark (21 August 1801 – 24 April 1882) was a Norwegian priest and

mineralogist 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 ...

. He is most noted for first locating the mineral

thorite Thorite, (Th,U)SiO4, is a rare nesosilicate of thorium that crystallizes in the tetragonal system and is isomorphous with zircon and hafnon. It is the most common mineral of thorium and is nearly always strongly radioactive. It was named in 1829 to ...

Biography

Morten Thrane Esmark was born at

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

, Norway as a son of Professor

Jens Esmark Jens Esmark (31 January 1763 – 26 January 1839) was a Danish-Norwegian professor of mineralogy who contributed to many of the initial discoveries and conceptual analyses of glaciers, specifically the concept that glaciers had covered larger ...

, a professor of

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 ...

. His given name came from his maternal grandfather Danish zoologist and mineralogist,

Morten Thrane Brünnich Morten Thrane Brünnich (30 September 1737 – 19 September 1827) was a Danish zoologist and mineralogist. Biography Brünnich was born in Copenhagen, the son of a portrait painter. He studied oriental languages and theology, but soon became ...

. Esmark took his

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

exam in 1825 and first began his ministry as chaplain at

Eidanger Eidanger is a rural parish and former municipality of Porsgrunn, in Telemark County, Norway. History Eidanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was merged with Porsgrunn on 1 January 1964. The mai ...

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

, Norway. He served as a parish priest for a period at Ramnes in

Jarlsberg Jarlsberg was a former countship that forms a part of today's Vestfold county in Norway. The former countships of Jarlsberg and Larvik were merged into a county in 1821. Jarlsberg and Larvik's County (''Jarlsberg og Larviks amt'') were renamed ...

. He later served as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

at Brevik in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

. Morten Thrane Esmark described several new minerals principally from

Langesundsfjorden The Langesundsfjord (), also known as the Breviksfjord (), is a stretch of fjord from northern Skagerrak, between the islands of Sandøya, Bjørkøya and Siktesøya in Porsgrunn municipality and the mainland of Bamble municipality, in Telemark c ...

. He commonly sent interesting specimens to his father, Jens Esmark, who was a professor of mineralogy and geology 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 ...

. Morten Thrane Esmark located the first specimens of thorite, from which the element

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high me ...

is derived, on the island of Løvøya near

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

. His father forwarded the specimen to Swedish chemist

Jöns Jacob Berzelius Baron Jöns Jacob Berzelius (; by himself and his contemporaries named only Jacob Berzelius, 20 August 1779 – 7 August 1848) was a Swedish chemist. Berzelius is considered, along with Robert Boyle, John Dalton, and Antoine Lavoisier, to be on ...

, who confirmed that it was a new

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

which contained a new element. The personal mineral collection of Morten Thrane Esmark was later donated to the Tromsø University Museum.

Personal life

He was married to Ulriche Benedicte Wiborg (1810–1898). Nature researcher Birgitte Esmark (1841–1897) was their daughter.

References

External links

''Hans Morten Thrane Esmark. Presten Esmark og hans arbeide for vor bys utvikling''
(H. H. Steen and Nicolay W. Coch. Breviks Historielag. December 20, 1926.)
''Rediscovery of the Elements: Thorium''
(Marshall, James L. & Marshall, Virginia R. The Hexagon, Volume 92, Number 4, Winter 2001) 1801 births 1882 deaths Clergy from Kongsberg Norwegian mineralogists 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy {{Norway-academic-bio-stub

Biography

Personal life

References

Related reading

External links