Urban Hjärne (20 December 1641 – 10 March 1724) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, geologist, physician and writer.

Biography

He was born at Skworitz near

Nyenschantz Nyenschantz (; ; ) was a Swedish fortress at the confluence of the Neva River and Okhta River, the site of present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia. Nyenschantz was built in 1611 to establish Swedish rule in Ingria, which had been annexed from the T ...

Swedish Ingria Swedish Ingria (, ‘land of Ingrians’) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1583 to 1595 and then again from 1617 to 1721 in what is now the territory of Russia. At the latter date, it was ceded to the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Ny ...

. He was the son of vicar Erlandus Jonæ Hiærne (1596–1654) and Christina Tomasdotter Schmidt (1615–1682). He was admitted in 1655 to the high school gymnasium in

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

. He went to Arva, where he studied until 1657. He entered

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1658. He began his medical education at Uppsala in 1661. For several years he visited Northern Europe's leading research center for medicine. He travelled to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In 1670, he became a doctor of medicine at

Angers, France Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

. In 1674 he settled as a physician in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

where his practice primarily served the aristocracy. In 1669 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. He was appointed first physician to the King

Charles XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl (; ) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of History of Sweden, Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden ...

in 1684 and was ennobled in 1689. He became assessor of the Board of Mines (''Bergskollegium'') in 1675. He became head of the Laboratorium Chemicum in 1683. He was also the author of ''Stratonice'', sometimes claimed to be the first Swedish novel, a partly autobiographical romance of seduction begun in 1665 and published in several parts, completed in 1668. In Sweden, Urban Hjärne is also known for his fight against witch trials. He was a member of the Witchcraft Commission in the

Katarina witch trials The Katarina witch trials took place in the Katarina Parish in the capital of Stockholm in Sweden in 1676. It was a part of the big witch hunt known as the Great noise, which took place in Sweden between the years 1668 and 1676, and it also ill ...

during the Great noise in 1676, and is remembered as one of the members of the commission who started to feel scepticism toward witchraft and doubt the child witnesses, leading to the witnesses to be exposed as liars and the dissolution of the Katarina witch trials, the Witcraft Commission, and ultimately the entire witch hunt.Urban Hiärne, urn:sbl:13625, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Sten Lindroth), hämtad 2022-09-16.

Personal life

He built a research library of 3,500 books, one of the largest in Sweden. He married three times: first Maria Svahn, then Catharina Elisabeth Bergenhielm, and finally Elisabeth Carlsdotter. He died in Stockholm in 1724 and was buried at

Bromma Church Bromma Church is a round church in the borough Bromma in Stockholm, Sweden. It is the parish church of Bromma Parish in the Diocese of Stockholm. The oldest parts of the church were built in the late 12th century as a fortress church, and the ...

Biography

Personal life

References

Other sources

Further reading