Olof Celsius

Olof Celsius the Younger (15 December 1716 – 15 February 1794) was a Swedish civil servant, church official, politician and historian. He was professor of history at Uppsala University from 1747, bishop of the Diocese of Lund from 1777, and member of the Swedish Academy from 1786. He was the son of Olof Celsius and cousin of Anders Celsius. Biography Celsius was born in Uppsala, Sweden, to botanist Olof Celsius and Margareta Insulander. In 1740 Celsius received his Master of Philosophy. In 1742 he became docent in history of education, in 1744 deputy librarian and in 1747 professor of history at Uppsala University. After being ordained as a priest, he received his Doctor of Theology in 1752. In 1753 he was appointed vicar of the parish of Kungsholmen and in 1760 of Jakob and Johannes Parish in Stockholm. In 1774 he became vicar of the Storkyrko parish and in 1777 was promoted to bishop of Lund. Among his friends were priest Ebbe Bring and bishop Thure Weidman. In 1756 he was knighted along with his siblings. His children adopted the name von Celse. Celsius was a prolific writer. His youthful tragedy Ingeborg was written during his years as a student (1737), and is notable as one of the first French classical dramas in Sweden. In 1738 he attempted to give Olof von Dalin's weekly journal Then Swänska Argus a successor, and published . The attempt failed, but Celsius became the first to introduce literary criticism in his journal. As a member of the Uppsala Society of Science, he also published many historical articles in his , self-published in 1742. A major heroic poem, Gustaf Vasa (1774), was less successful, as were some hymns and translations of alexandrines from classical authors. As an orator, Celsius had a great reputation, both in academic eloquence and politics. In 1745 he published , which was in many ways a hastily produced work, but for a long time remained the only work of its kind.