Johann Anderson (14 March 1674 – 3 May 1743) was a German lawyer, naturalist, linguist, and writer who became a mayor of Hamburg. He was among the first to write about his travels to Greenland which was published posthumously in 1746 as Nachrichten von Island und Grönland.
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Anderson was born in Hamburg, the son of a merchant and whaling ship owner Ammon. He studied law at Leipzig from 1694 and then went to Halle and obtained a doctorate from Leiden with a dissertation titled De iuramento Zenoniano. He also became interested in natural history and his acquaintances included Anton van Leeuwenhoek. He returned to Hamburg in 1697 and worked as a lawyer. In 1702 he became a council secretary and became a syndic in 1708. He was involved in a treaty with the British dealing with trade in salted herrings. In 1723 he became mayor of the city of Hamburg and was in the position until his death.[1]
Anderson collected information on Iceland and Greenland from sailors and others but he did not travel himself. He began to compile a grammar and vocabulary of the inuit of Greenland.[2]
Anderson was elected to the Leopoldina Academy in 1731 under the pseudonym Marcus Cato. He married Margaretha, daughter of Hamburg mayor Peter von Lengerke and they had a son, also named Johann Anderson (1717–1790) who was mayor of Hamburg between 1783 and 1790.
References
edit- ^ Kellinghusen, Hans (1953). "Anderson, Johann". Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Volume 1. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 269.
- ^ Steffenhagen, Emil Julius Hugo (1875). "Anderson, Johann". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. p. 430.