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Jacob Benjamin Fisher

13.10.1731 – 25.07.1793

Jacob Benjamin FISCHER (1731-1793) is a German Baltic natural scientist, collector and apothecary in Riga. In 1777 and 1778 Fisher was a member of Johann Gottfried Herder's Latvian Folk Song Collection Campaign. The folk songs, some of which were translated into German, collected by Heinrich Bauman, Johann Christoph Brotze and Gustav Bergmann, as well as possibly those collected by himself were sent to J.G. Herder through August Wilhelm Hupel, and Johann Gottfried Herder added those to his collections of folksongs of different nations. The correspondence between Heinrich Baumann and Jacob Benjamin Fisher is stored in the Latvian State Historical Archives: LVVA 4038, 2a, 304l.

  • Author (6)
  • Editor (1)
  • Author of the comment (1)
  • Person of reception (2)

    • Birth time/place

    13.10.1731
    Rīga

    Place/time of death

    25.07.1793

    Personal information

    Jacob Benjamin 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.
    Jacob Benjamin Fisher married Johanna Dorothea Fellmann (1736-1816) of Danzig on October 13, 1765

    Professional activity

    Baltic natural and cultural history research

    1762: Bedenken über die Versteinerungen und deren Erzeugung, besonders derer in Livland [Description of Vidzeme rocks and fossils, based on the author's own observations, incl. In Katlakalns, Lielstraupe and possibly in Gravenheide]

    1777: Versuch einer liefländischen Naturgeschichte im Grundriß[A study on the nature of Vidzeme and its development history, expanded and supplemented, published as a separate edition in Leipzig in 1778 and Königsberg in 1791]

    1782: Beyträge und Berichtigungen zu Hrn. F.K.Gadebusch livländischer Bibliothek[Additions to the Gadebusch Reference Book on Baltic German Writing]

    1789: Geschichte der Loge zum Schwerdt in Riga von ihrem Anfange bis jetzto aus dem Archiv und den Protokollen zusammengetragen wie auch Geschichte der Erziehungsanstalt z. St.Johannis dieser Loge und maurerischen Personalien des weyl.Hochw.Brs.Balthasar von Bergmann[Freemasonry's "At the Sword" and John's School History, Manuscript: LVVA, f. 4038, apr. 2, 1393]

    Quotes

    "My dearest friend, I have not yet thanked you for the songs you have sent. Now I do so with the feeling of all the help and kindness you have given me. I hope you will not reproach me for being a little late. God knows, I often do not understand how to manage everything. I will share your kind efforts with Superintendent [Johann Gottfried] Herder. "
    Fragment of a letter from August Wilhelm Hupel to Fisher, February 6, 1778. Quoted in: Beata Paškevica Latviešu tautasdziesmu teksti, to pierakstītāji un sūtītāji J.G.Herderam "Tautasdziesmu" izdevuma vajadzībām. in: Vienotība un atšķirība: Johana Gotfrīda Herdera filozofija. Ed. R. Bičevskis. Riga 2017, p.

    "Fisher was a zealous collector; above all, he owned a collection of several thousand engravings, now the property of the City Library, as well as a collection of autographs, currently owned by our Society. He also collected manuscripts, natural items and he had a good library, the item list of which was printed at the site of the auction in 1793 in Rujiena. "
    [Fischer war ein Mann von regem Sammeleifer; er besass ausserdem eine mehrere Tausende zählende Sammlung von Kupferstichen Gelehrter, gleichfalls Eigenthum der Stadtbibliothek, ferner Autographen Sammlung, gegenwärtig unserer Gesellschaft angehörig. Daneben sammelte er livländische Handschriften, auch Naturalien, und hatte eine gute Bibliothek, deren Verzeichniss, zum Zweck der Versteigerung am hiesigen Ort, 1793 zu Rujen gedruckt wurde, in: August Buchholtz. Zur Ikonographie der Ostseeprovinzen. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft für Geschichte...aus dem Jahre 1876, Riga, 1877, p.66 -67].

    Name at birth

    Jakob Benjamin Fischer

    Education

    lat. Schola Carolina
    Mazā Pils iela 4, Rīga

    1756–1758
    University of Copenhagen
    Nørregade 10, København
    Vēsturiskā ēka, kurā Fišers studē, nav līdz mūsu dienām saglabājusies. Apgūst dabaszinības, studē pie medicīnas profesora Kristiāna Gotlība Kracenšteina (Kratzenstein, 1723-1795), aptiekāra Capela drauga, viena no trim dāņu pirmās farmakopejas autoriem, dabas zinātnieka, alķīmijas interesenta un brīvmūrnieka.

    1761
    Upsālas Universitāte
    752 36 Upsala, Zviedrija
    Studē pie Karla fon Linneja (Carl von Linee, Carl Linnaeus, 1707-1778) zooloģiju un botāniku

    Working place

    1750
    Pharmacy "Lion", Riga
    Šķūņu iela 16, Rīga
    Iespējams, 1750.gadu sākumā Jākobs BenjaminsFišers apgūst aptiekāra amatu sava tēva aptiekā.

    1755
    Kopenhāgena
    Pirms 1756 strādā par aptiekāra Joahima Dītriha Capela (Cappel, 1717-1784) palīgu viņa aptiekā Kopenhāgenā. Capels ir nozīmīga persona dāņu farmācijas vēsturē - kopš 1757. gada Karaliskā Frederika hospitāļa aptiekas aptiekārs, viens no trim dāņu pirmās farmakopejas izstrādātājiem (1772), minerālu kolekcionārs, kas aizrāvies arī ar alķimiskiem eksperimentiem.

    1758–1760
    Pharmacy "Lion", Riga
    Šķūņu iela 16, Rīga
    Strādā par provizoru savas mātes vadītā aptiekā

    08.09.1766–18.06.1768
    Pharmacy of the State Council of Riga
    Rīga
    Aptiekas īpašnieks, pēc tam to pārdod G.Toibleram (Teubler).

    1770–1793
    Riga Orphanage
    Kaļķu iela, Rīga
    Bāreņu nama grāmatvedis

    Participation in organisations

    1790–1791
    „Zum Schwerdt“
    Johana Zāmuela fon Holandera nams
    ložas sekretārs