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August Nordenskiöld

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

August Nordenskiöld or Nordenskjöld (6 February 1754 in Sipoo, Finland – 10 December 1792 in Sierra Leone, Africa) was a Finnish-Swedish alchemist and Swedenborgian critic of slavery.

Nordenskiöld was the son of Carl Fredric Nordenskiöld [sv] and Märta Nordenskiöld, born Ramsay, and brother of Swedish Admiral Otto Henrik Nordenskiöld [sv] (1747–1842). He was educated at Turku before moving to Stockholm where he was influenced by Swedenborgianism.[1] He was supported by the king of Sweden, Gustav III, in his efforts to find the Philosopher's Stone, in order to create gold.[citation needed] In 1782 he led Sweden's mining operations in Finland.[citation needed] He was also involved in an attempt, supported by Gustav III, to found an anti-slavery colony on the west coast of Africa.[1] Nordenskiöld died in a violent clash between locals in Sierra Leone, where he had moved.[2]

His nephew, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, was an Arctic explorer.

Works

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  • Försök til en chemisk och metallurgisk afhandling, Turku 1772
  • Oneiromantien; eller konsten at tyda drömar. Förra delen, Stockholm 1783
  • Oneiromantien; eller konsten at tyda drömar. Andra delen, Stockholm 1783
  • An ADDRESS to the True MEMBERS of the NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH, London 1789
  • Församlings formen uti det Nya Jerusalem, af August Nordenskjöld Jesu Christi ringaste tiänare, Kjöpenhamn 1790
  • (with Carl Bernhard Wadström and others) Plan for a Free Community at Sierra Leone, 1792

References

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  1. ^ a b The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought, ed. Mark Goldie and Robert Wokler, Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 764
  2. ^ "Kullantekijät Uudessakaupungissa". Uusikaupunki.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
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