Nicolaus Christian Friis (1 February 1714 – 22 May 1777) was a Norwegian priest and theologian. Niels or Nicolai Friis was born at Lille-Fosen (now

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

) in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

, Norway. Friis attended the

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 ...

and graduated with a degree in theology from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 1736. In 1737, he was appointed assistant pastor at

Alstahaug Alstahaug is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandnessjøen. Som ...

. In 1744 he was appointed parish priest at Bodin Church in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

, Norway. The following year, he married Sophie à Möinichen Randulf (1693–1779), the widow of bailiff Søren Randulf who had died 1743. In 1754 he was assigned the position of

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

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 ...

, a title for which he paid 8,000

riksdaler The svenska riksdaler () was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden. The daler, like the dollar,''National Geographic''. June 2002. p. 1. ''Ask Us''. was named after the German Thaler. ...

to achieve. In 1771, Friis received the office of senior priest (''sogneprest'') at

Korskirken Holy Cross Church ( no, Korskirken) is a special parish church in Bergen municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is situated in the centre of the city of Bergen, just east of the head of the Vågen bay. The church is located at the intersecti ...

in Bergen which he held until he was granted leave of retirement in 1774. From the 1770s he published several scientific works on the fisheries in Northern Norway. The life of Friis is treated by several biographers. He died in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

in 1777.

Selected works

*'' Illustration til Bispevisitatserne i Nordland og Finmarken'' - 1771

Selected works

References

Related reading