Illustration
Name
Jacob Benjamin Fisher
Name at birth
Jakob Benjamin Fischer
Link
Summary
JacobBenjamin FISCHER (1731-1793) is a German Baltic naturalscientist, collector and apothecary in Riga. In 1777 and 1778 Fisherwas a member of Johann Gottfried Herder's Latvian Folk SongCollection Campaign. The folk songs, some of which were translatedinto German, collected by Heinrich Bauman, Johann Christoph Brotzeand Gustav Bergmann, as well as possibly those collected by himselfwere sent to J.G. Herder through August Wilhelm Hupel, and JohannGottfried Herder added those to his collections of folksongs ofdifferent nations. The correspondence between Heinrich Baumann andJacob Benjamin Fisher is stored in the Latvian State HistoricalArchives: LVVA 4038, 2a, 304l.
Personal information
JacobBenjamin Fisher's father was Riga apothecary Jacob Johann Fischer (?-1751), the brother of physician and writer Johann Bernhard Fisher(1685-1772), mother - Gertrude, born Ebel.
JacobBenjamin Fisher married Johanna Dorothea Fellmann (1736-1816) ofDanzig on October 13, 1765
Quotations
"Mydearest friend, I have not yet thanked you for the songs you havesent. Now I do so with the feeling of all the help and kindness youhave given me. I hope you will not reproach me for being a littlelate. God knows, I often do not understand how to manage everything.I will share your kind efforts with Superintendent [Johann Gottfried]Herder. "
Fragmentof a letter from August Wilhelm Hupel to Fisher, February 6, 1778.Quoted in: Beata PaškevicaLatviešutautasdziesmu teksti, to pierakstītāji un sūtītāji J.G.Herderam"Tautasdziesmu" izdevuma vajadzībām. in: Vienotība unatšķirība: Johana Gotfrīda Herdera filozofija. Ed. R. Bičevskis.Riga 2017, p.
"Fisherwas a zealous collector; above all, he owned a collection ofseveral thousand engravings, now the property of the City Library, aswell as a collection of autographs, currently owned by our Society.He also collected manuscripts, natural items and he had a goodlibrary, the item list of which was printed at the site of theauction in 1793 in Rujiena. "
[Fischerwar ein Mann von regem Sammeleifer; er besass ausserdem eine mehrereTausende zählende Sammlung von Kupferstichen Gelehrter, gleichfallsEigenthum der Stadtbibliothek, ferner Autographen Sammlung,gegenwärtig unserer Gesellschaft angehörig. Daneben sammelte erlivländische Handschriften, auch Naturalien, und hatte eine guteBibliothek, deren Verzeichniss, zum Zweck der Versteigerung amhiesigen Ort, 1793 zu Rujen gedruckt wurde,in: AugustBuchholtz. Zur Ikonographie der Ostseeprovinzen. Sitzungsberichteder Gesellschaft für Geschichte...ausdem Jahre 1876,Riga, 1877, p.66 -67].
Work
Balticnatural and cultural history research
1762:Bedenkenüber die Versteinerungen und deren Erzeugung, besonders derer inLivland [Descriptionof Vidzeme rocks and fossils, based on the author's own observations,incl. In Katlakalns, Lielstraupe and possibly in Gravenheide]
1777:Versucheiner liefländischen Naturgeschichte im Grundriß [A study on the nature of Vidzeme and its development history,expanded and supplemented, published as a separate edition in Leipzigin 1778 and Königsberg in 1791]
1782:Beyträgeund Berichtigungen zu Hrn. F.K.Gadebusch livländischer Bibliothek [Additions to the Gadebusch Reference Book on Baltic German Writing]
1789:Geschichteder Loge zum Schwerdt in Riga von ihrem Anfange bis jetzto aus demArchiv und den Protokollen zusammengetragen wie auch Geschichte derErziehungsanstalt z. St.Johannis dieser Loge und maurerischenPersonalien des weyl.Hochw.Brs.Balthasar von Bergmann [Freemasonry's "At the Sword" and John's School History,Manuscript: LVVA, f. 4038, apr. 2, 1393]
Repositories
Enlightenment project
Latvijas literatūra
| Birth time/place | 13.10.1731 Rīga Rīga |
|---|---|
| Education | lat. Schola Carolina Mazā Pils iela 4, Rīga Mazā Pils iela 4, Rīga, LV-1050 1756 – 1758 University of Copenhagen Nørregade 10, København Nørregade 10, København, Denmark The historic building where Fisher studied has not survived to this day. He studied science, studies under the supervision of professor of medicine Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein (1723-1795), a friend of the apothecary Cappel, one of the three authors of the first Danish Pharmacopoeia, a natural scientist, an alchemist and freemason. Upsālas Universitāte 752 36 Upsala, Zviedrija 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden He studied zoology and botany under the supervision of Carl von Linee (Carl Linnaeus, 1707-1778). |
| Working place | 1750 (Date is approximate) Pharmacy "Lion", Riga Šķūņu iela 16, Rīga Šķūņu iela 16, Rīga, LV-1050 It is possible that in the early 1750s Jacob Benjamin Fisher acquired training in apothecary skills at his father's apotheca. Kopenhāgena Copenhagen, Denmark Prior to 1756 he worked as an assistant to the apothecary Joahim Dietrich Cappel (1717-1784) at his apotheca in Copenhagen. Cappel is a prominent figure in the history of Danish pharmacy - a apothecary at the Royal Frederick's Hospital since 1757, one of the three developers of the first Danish Pharmacopoeia (1772), a collector of minerals and alchemy enthusiast. Pharmacy "Lion", Riga Šķūņu iela 16, Rīga Šķūņu iela 16, Rīga, LV-1050 He works as an apothecary in the apotheca run by his mother 08.09.1766 – 18.06.1768Pharmacy of the State Council of Riga Rīga Rīga The owner of the apotheca, which he later sells to G.Teubler. Riga Orphanage Kaļķu iela, Rīga Kaļķu iela, Rīga Bookkeeper at orphanage |
| Participation in organisations | 1790 – 1791 „Zum Schwerdt“ Johana Zāmuela fon Holandera nams Šķūņu iela 17, Rīga, LV-1050 Lodge Secretary |
| Place/time of death | 25.07.1793 |
