Frederik Christian von Haven
Encyclopedia
Frederik Christian von Haven (26 June 1728 - 25 May 1763) was a Danish master of philology, theology and part of the Danish expedition to Yemen
.
. His father was the priest Lambert Von Haven and the mother was called Maren (who's maiden name was Wielandt). He had three sisters. The sister Pernille Elisabeth Von Haven, who remained unmarried had a special relationship to Frederik Christian von Haven.
The von Haven family most likely came from the north of Germany
and were also found in Bergen
in Norway
in the 1600s . Years later they moved to Denmark
. The earliest of the Danish born von Havens were working as painters or architects, like Lambert van Haven
(1630–1695), who drew Thotts Palæ, the dome of Charlottenborg and Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen In the end of the 1600th century, the von Haven's sons started becoming priests.
Frederik von Havens father died in 1738 and left his family in deep dept. Only with the help of relatives did Frederik manage becoming a student from the Cathedral School in Odense, and later being able to study theology at the University of Copenhagen
. In 1750 he got his masters. He got a scholarship which enabled him to travel to Göttingen
to study oriental languages under the famous professor Johann David Michaelis
.
, it was important for him to define actual details about life in the middle east/ orient, and it was his perception that Yemen
, which was more isolated that other Arabian countries, had preserved many traditions and social patterns from biblical times. Michaëlis wrote the king of Denmark, Frederik the 5th. to get his financial support for the idea. The king obliged and the planning of the voyage could start.
Michaëlis thought about sending missionaries from the Danish colony of Trankebar to Yemen, by as the plan developed, he decided to send educated researchers instead. von Haven had proven himself to be a brilliant master of philology, and that's why Michaëlis chose him.
When von Haven heard about the Syrian Maronit monks taught in a college in Rome
, he got a scholarship to travel to Rome and study Arabian languages from these monks. In the Vatican library were many writings from the orient which could be of great use for von Haven. He started his voyage in the end of 1759, and stayed abroad for about a year.
Under von Haven's absence, the other participants of the voyage were appointed by Michaelis and the foreign minister Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff
. It was the botanist - pupil of the master Carl von Linné - Peter Forsskål
, the math master and the astronomer Carsten Niebuhr
, engraver and miniature painter Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind and the doctor Christian Carl Cramer.
. Because of the bad weather, the ship has to return to Helsingør multiple times. von Haven and a big part of the crew became sick, because the drinking water became rotten in short time. The ship had to return on 11 February once more to Helsingør. von Haven decided to travel by land to Marseille
to join the crew. He got approval and the voyage for France begins. von Haven's description of the voyage tells that he is an experienced supervisor. He prepared himself throughly to the upcoming expedition. For example, he visited the professor in Copenhagen, Kratzenstein, who taught him how to take take casts of inscriptions and show how he cuts off a marble block with them. in addition to this he also bought books about Arabian history, culture and language.
von Haven arrived on 8 May at Marseilles, where he later joined his crew, who arrived on the ship Grønland on 13 May. von Haven lived large in Marseilles, where he went to the theatres, concerts and visited the top of city. he writes in his description of his travels that he "wanted that the crew had stayed away in 14 more days"".
On 3 June the crew set sail from Marseille to Constantinopel. It was under this trip that von Haven and Forsskål started a huge verbal fight which has an impact on the entire voyage. von Haven describes it as a minor discussion he had with Forsskål about Forsskåls displeasure with Kramers scientific abilities. von Haven writes that he won the discussion and that Forsskål left the cabin without an answer. In Constantinople von Haven buys a few packs of arsenic, which the crew fears that he would poison them with, and they write Bernstorff and the Danish consulat in Konstantinopel von Gähler about the removal of Von Haven from the expedition. This results in nothing, and von Haven does not mention this in his description with a single word.
The crew arriveed to Alexandria
in Egypt
26 September. There and in Cairo
Here von Haven buys the most of his manuscripts which would later be a big part of his scientific assignment on the voyage. The crew stayed in Egypt for one year, and between the 6th of September and the 25th. of September 1762 von Haven and Carsten Niebuhr travels to Sinai, where they are supposed to see some scriptures and visit the cloister of saint Cathrine at the Sinai mountain, which is supposed to have a huge library of rare books. sadly they are sent the wrong way by their Arabian guides and does not get to see the scriptures on the mountain. The monks at the cloister would not let them in, because they did not have a letter from the patriarch from the orthodox church. von Haven sends a letter of the failed expedition to Bernstorff, who from Copenhagen had asked for results during the voyage. Bernstorff is unhappy with the letter and writes back that he expects better results, but as the mail service between Denmark and Egypt is very slow at the time, the letter first arrives long after the death of von Haven.
and arrived at the port of Loheia in Yemen on 29 December. From there they traveled by land to the city of Mokka; underway they stop at the desert city of Bait Al-Faqîh. Most of the crew is at this point very sick. It has later been proven that the crew had malaria
, but they thought they only had a common cold. The sickness became worse. When they arrived to Mokka, von Haven is so sick, that he had to stay put in his bed in their rented house. von Haven does realize how sick he really is. The 25 may in the afternoon he writes with a shaky hand his last note "the 25th of may 1763: after midday God gave me, I believe, a blessed ending. I was born the 26th of July 1728."
He was buried on the Christian cemetery in Mokka, which still exists to this day. The whereabouts of his body is unknown.
from Oxford
, when he made his authoritative textia authoritative text-critical edition of the old testament. Many of the manuscripts are illustrated works of art.
von Haven's travel description shows that he is good with science and is a good observer. From the last half year of his life, there only exist notes. his field required much after work, so his philogical findings are hard to assess today. The edited part of the travel diary is one of that time period's best Danish works of prose, which can resemble Frederik Sneedorff's travel letters or Andreas Christian Hviid's travel diaries.
von Haven had a good sense for language and was truly brilliant at writing, when one compares the not very developed Danish at the time.
's documentarian novelDet lykkelige Arabien (The happy Arabia) from 1962. In it Frederik von Haven is viewed as an narccistical, cowardly and lazy. He constantly tried to work against the scientific work, which especially Forsskål and Niebuhr tries to do. This role came from Thorkild Hansen's own findings in the sources.
His main source was the biographies of Peter Forsskål, Carl Christensen's Naturforskeren Pehr Forsskål (1918) and Henrik Schück's Från Linnés tid. Peter Forsskål (1923). These are both very critical over von Haven.
Thorkild Hansen has presumably not know about von Havens travel journal, which lay in manuscript in the Royal Danish Library. (and first printed in 2005). By von Havens own writings, Thorkild Hansen only used the part about the failed voyage to Sinai and von Haven's letters to friends and family. These letters are only about personal matters and not about the expedition as such. This has greatly differentiated the view of von Haven, which was viewed as one who only thought about the taking the easy way out and good food, and constantly whined about his bad health. That von Haven was wayward and had an aluctance against Peter Forsskål - and not fit to an expedition of this size, does his own travel journal not change. It shows, however that he did his best regarding the scientific work, and that the accusations with laziness and bad excuses was incorrect. His problem, was as Thorkild Hansen mentions in his novel, that most of the voyage happened by boat or in the barren desert, which was not fit for a philigist, but had lots to do with a guy making maps and a botanist.
Hansen has of literary reasons demonized von Havens: his negative sides makes a good contrast to the heroes Niebuhr and Forsskål. von Haven therefore takes the role of "the invaluable bad guy".
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
.
Biography
Frederik von Haven was born in the rectory of Vester Skerninge on the Danish island of Funen and christened the 3rd of July in The Church of Our Lady in OdenseOdense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
. His father was the priest Lambert Von Haven and the mother was called Maren (who's maiden name was Wielandt). He had three sisters. The sister Pernille Elisabeth Von Haven, who remained unmarried had a special relationship to Frederik Christian von Haven.
The von Haven family most likely came from the north of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and were also found in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in the 1600s . Years later they moved to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. The earliest of the Danish born von Havens were working as painters or architects, like Lambert van Haven
Lambert van Haven
Lambert van Haven was a Danish architect, master builder and painter. He was born in Bergen, the son of the artist Solomon van Haven who had already succeeded in winning the favour of the Danish monarchy....
(1630–1695), who drew Thotts Palæ, the dome of Charlottenborg and Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen In the end of the 1600th century, the von Haven's sons started becoming priests.
Frederik von Havens father died in 1738 and left his family in deep dept. Only with the help of relatives did Frederik manage becoming a student from the Cathedral School in Odense, and later being able to study theology at the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
. In 1750 he got his masters. He got a scholarship which enabled him to travel to Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
to study oriental languages under the famous professor Johann David Michaelis
Johann David Michaelis
Johann David Michaelis , a famous and eloquent German biblical scholar and teacher, was a member of a family which had the chief part in maintaining that solid discipline in Hebrew and the cognate languages which distinguished the University of Halle in the period of Pietism.-Life and work:J. D...
.
Planning of the expedition to Arabia
It was Michaëlis who got the idea for the Arabian expedition. The preparatory work is further expressed in the Danish book Den Arabiske Rejse : en dansk ekspedition set i videnskabshistorisk perspektiv (The Arabian voyage : A Danish expedition seen in the perspective of Science). As he exerted comparative historical and philological studies of the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, it was important for him to define actual details about life in the middle east/ orient, and it was his perception that Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, which was more isolated that other Arabian countries, had preserved many traditions and social patterns from biblical times. Michaëlis wrote the king of Denmark, Frederik the 5th. to get his financial support for the idea. The king obliged and the planning of the voyage could start.
Michaëlis thought about sending missionaries from the Danish colony of Trankebar to Yemen, by as the plan developed, he decided to send educated researchers instead. von Haven had proven himself to be a brilliant master of philology, and that's why Michaëlis chose him.
When von Haven heard about the Syrian Maronit monks taught in a college in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, he got a scholarship to travel to Rome and study Arabian languages from these monks. In the Vatican library were many writings from the orient which could be of great use for von Haven. He started his voyage in the end of 1759, and stayed abroad for about a year.
Under von Haven's absence, the other participants of the voyage were appointed by Michaelis and the foreign minister Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff
Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff
Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff , Danish statesman, who came of a very ancient Mecklenburg family, was the son of Joachim Engelke von Bernstorff, Chamberlain to the elector of Hanover.-Early political career:...
. It was the botanist - pupil of the master Carl von Linné - Peter Forsskål
Peter Forsskål
Peter Forsskål, sometimes spelled Pehr Forsskål, Peter Forskaol, Petrus Forskål or Pehr Forsskåhl, was a Swedish explorer, orientalist, naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.-Early life:...
, the math master and the astronomer Carsten Niebuhr
Carsten Niebuhr
Carsten Niebuhr or Karsten Niebuhr , a German mathematician, cartographer, and explorer in the service of Denmark, is renowned for his travels on the Arabian peninsula.-Biography:...
, engraver and miniature painter Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind and the doctor Christian Carl Cramer.
Voyage
When von Haven went back to Copenhagen, he was, like Forsskål, appointed professor. On 4 January 1761, the expedition went aboard the navy ship Grønland, which was to bring them to KonstantinopelIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. Because of the bad weather, the ship has to return to Helsingør multiple times. von Haven and a big part of the crew became sick, because the drinking water became rotten in short time. The ship had to return on 11 February once more to Helsingør. von Haven decided to travel by land to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
to join the crew. He got approval and the voyage for France begins. von Haven's description of the voyage tells that he is an experienced supervisor. He prepared himself throughly to the upcoming expedition. For example, he visited the professor in Copenhagen, Kratzenstein, who taught him how to take take casts of inscriptions and show how he cuts off a marble block with them. in addition to this he also bought books about Arabian history, culture and language.
von Haven arrived on 8 May at Marseilles, where he later joined his crew, who arrived on the ship Grønland on 13 May. von Haven lived large in Marseilles, where he went to the theatres, concerts and visited the top of city. he writes in his description of his travels that he "wanted that the crew had stayed away in 14 more days"".
On 3 June the crew set sail from Marseille to Constantinopel. It was under this trip that von Haven and Forsskål started a huge verbal fight which has an impact on the entire voyage. von Haven describes it as a minor discussion he had with Forsskål about Forsskåls displeasure with Kramers scientific abilities. von Haven writes that he won the discussion and that Forsskål left the cabin without an answer. In Constantinople von Haven buys a few packs of arsenic, which the crew fears that he would poison them with, and they write Bernstorff and the Danish consulat in Konstantinopel von Gähler about the removal of Von Haven from the expedition. This results in nothing, and von Haven does not mention this in his description with a single word.
The crew arriveed to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
26 September. There and in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
Here von Haven buys the most of his manuscripts which would later be a big part of his scientific assignment on the voyage. The crew stayed in Egypt for one year, and between the 6th of September and the 25th. of September 1762 von Haven and Carsten Niebuhr travels to Sinai, where they are supposed to see some scriptures and visit the cloister of saint Cathrine at the Sinai mountain, which is supposed to have a huge library of rare books. sadly they are sent the wrong way by their Arabian guides and does not get to see the scriptures on the mountain. The monks at the cloister would not let them in, because they did not have a letter from the patriarch from the orthodox church. von Haven sends a letter of the failed expedition to Bernstorff, who from Copenhagen had asked for results during the voyage. Bernstorff is unhappy with the letter and writes back that he expects better results, but as the mail service between Denmark and Egypt is very slow at the time, the letter first arrives long after the death of von Haven.
Death
The crew then traveled with an Arabian ship through the Red SeaRed Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
and arrived at the port of Loheia in Yemen on 29 December. From there they traveled by land to the city of Mokka; underway they stop at the desert city of Bait Al-Faqîh. Most of the crew is at this point very sick. It has later been proven that the crew had malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, but they thought they only had a common cold. The sickness became worse. When they arrived to Mokka, von Haven is so sick, that he had to stay put in his bed in their rented house. von Haven does realize how sick he really is. The 25 may in the afternoon he writes with a shaky hand his last note "the 25th of may 1763: after midday God gave me, I believe, a blessed ending. I was born the 26th of July 1728."
He was buried on the Christian cemetery in Mokka, which still exists to this day. The whereabouts of his body is unknown.
Scientific results
von Haven bought 116 manuscripts, which were given to the Royal Danish Library, where they still are today. These also contain historical, geographical and linguistic texts. There is also poetry in Arabic or Hebrew. There are seven bibles written in Hebrew. These were used by the English master of theology Benjamin KennicottBenjamin Kennicott
Benjamin Kennicott was an English churchman and Hebrew scholar.He was born at Totnes, Devon. He succeeded his father as master of a charity school, but the generosity of some friends enabled him to go to Wadham College, Oxford, in 1744, and he distinguished himself in Hebrew and divinity...
from Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, when he made his authoritative textia authoritative text-critical edition of the old testament. Many of the manuscripts are illustrated works of art.
von Haven's travel description shows that he is good with science and is a good observer. From the last half year of his life, there only exist notes. his field required much after work, so his philogical findings are hard to assess today. The edited part of the travel diary is one of that time period's best Danish works of prose, which can resemble Frederik Sneedorff's travel letters or Andreas Christian Hviid's travel diaries.
von Haven had a good sense for language and was truly brilliant at writing, when one compares the not very developed Danish at the time.
The Role as the Bad Guy in Thorkild Hansen's Det lykkelige Arabien
The Arabian expedition is today mostly know through the writerThorkild HansenThorkild Hansen
Thorkild Hansen was a Danish novelist known for his Slave Trilogy. He also did works concerning Knut Hamsun and travel writing...
's documentarian novelDet lykkelige Arabien (The happy Arabia) from 1962. In it Frederik von Haven is viewed as an narccistical, cowardly and lazy. He constantly tried to work against the scientific work, which especially Forsskål and Niebuhr tries to do. This role came from Thorkild Hansen's own findings in the sources.
His main source was the biographies of Peter Forsskål, Carl Christensen's Naturforskeren Pehr Forsskål (1918) and Henrik Schück's Från Linnés tid. Peter Forsskål (1923). These are both very critical over von Haven.
Thorkild Hansen has presumably not know about von Havens travel journal, which lay in manuscript in the Royal Danish Library. (and first printed in 2005). By von Havens own writings, Thorkild Hansen only used the part about the failed voyage to Sinai and von Haven's letters to friends and family. These letters are only about personal matters and not about the expedition as such. This has greatly differentiated the view of von Haven, which was viewed as one who only thought about the taking the easy way out and good food, and constantly whined about his bad health. That von Haven was wayward and had an aluctance against Peter Forsskål - and not fit to an expedition of this size, does his own travel journal not change. It shows, however that he did his best regarding the scientific work, and that the accusations with laziness and bad excuses was incorrect. His problem, was as Thorkild Hansen mentions in his novel, that most of the voyage happened by boat or in the barren desert, which was not fit for a philigist, but had lots to do with a guy making maps and a botanist.
Hansen has of literary reasons demonized von Havens: his negative sides makes a good contrast to the heroes Niebuhr and Forsskål. von Haven therefore takes the role of "the invaluable bad guy".
Source
- Min Sundheds Forliis - Frederik Christian von Havens Rejsejournal fra Den Arabiske Rejse 1760-1763, by Anne Haslund Hansen og Stig T. Rasmussen. Forlaget Vandkunsten, 2005. 405 s. : ill. ISBN 87-91393-10-8.