Melchior Falch

Melchior Michaelsen Falch (1720 – September 14, 1791) was a Norwegian jurist, author, and judge from Øvre Amla (Amble) in the village of Kaupanger in the municipality of Sogndal, Sogn og Fjordane county. He was interested in promoting fisheries, and in 1775 he received an award for a work on Norwegian fisheries.[1][2]

Family and education

Falch was the son of Michael Melchiorsøn Falch (died 1768) and Mette Marie Heiberg (1699–1766).[1] He received a law degree in Copenhagen in 1747, and on March 19, 1753 he married Anna Sophie Bitsch. Falch paid for the construction of a school in Bergen known as the Seminarium Fredericianum, in gratitude for which he was made the district magistrate for Sunnmøre in 1754.[3] He inherited the Heiberg estate in Øvre Amla from his father. The property was rented out from 1754 to 1779, while Falch lived in Borgund.

On August 25, 1756 he married again, to Christi(a)ne Margrethe Hagerup (November 8, 1732 – 1795), and they had the following children: Anna Sophie Falch (1759–1830), Michael Melchiorsen Falch (1762–?), Hans Christian Falch (1764–?), Melchior Falch (1768–1849), and Cathrine Marie Helene Harboe Falch (1770–1854, who married Hans Knagenhjelm Daae). Falch's wife Christine was the daughter of Bishop Eiler Hagerup[4] and she was also the cousin of Hans Strøm. Falch was the brother-in-law of Hans Holtermann, who was married to an older daughter of Bishop Hagerup.

Career

Falch earned much money for his work in developing the fishing industry. He was active as a writer, and in 1769 he became a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters in Trondheim.

On November 2, 1773 he co-founded one of Norway's first nonprofit organizations: the Syndmøre Practical Agricultural Society (Norwegian: Syndmøre practiske Landhuusholdningsselskab). Hans Strøm and other clergy also participated in the work. It was modeled on the Royal Danish Agricultural Society (established in 1769) and similar societies in other European countries. The society's mission was to promote economic development, especially in agriculture. Its main activity was educational, such as handing out pamphlets and useful premiums (2 to 4 riksdaler) to farmers that carried out recommended measures to improve production. Falch himself ran a model farm in Borgund.[5] The society went into decline when Falch and Strøm left Sunnmøre in 1779.

Works

References

  1. 1 2 Store norske leksikon: Melchior Falch
  2. ↑ Norsk biografisk leksikon: Melchior Falch
  3. ↑ Seminarium Fredericianum.
  4. ↑ Erlandsen, Andreas. 1855. Biographiske Efterretninger om Geistligheden i Trondhjems Stift. Christiania: Chr. Tønsbergs forlag.
  5. ↑ Solli, Gunnar. 1931. Møre Landbruksselskap 1831–1931. Molde: Møre Landbruksselskap.
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