Personal life

He was born in Strømsø

Strømsø

Strømsø is a brough of Drammen, in Buskerud county, Norway. Strømsø is located at the southern side of the river Drammenselva. Until about 1600, Stømsø was an island surrounded by the Drammenselva, but was later made landfast. In 1728 Strømsø was granted rights as a trade center by the king, and...

 as a son of Hans Neumann (1745–1789) and Annechen Johanne Blom (1754–1773), and a grandson of Jakob Hansen Neumann. He was also a first cousin of Gustav Peter Blom

Gustav Peter Blom

Gustav Peter Blom was a Norwegian politician.He was a member of the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly in 1814. At that time he worked as district stipendiary magistrate in Nordre Jarlsberg. He was later appointed stipendiary magistrate and town clerk in Drammen...

 and Gustava Kielland

Gustava Kielland

Susanne Sophie Catharina Gustava Kielland was a Norwegian author and missionary pioneer.She was born in Kongsberg as a daughter of customs officer Gustavus Blom and his wife Karen Petronelle Stoltenberg...

 and a second cousin of Christian Blom.

In February 1800 in Copenhagen he married pharmacist's daughter Justine Marie Agnete Bruun (1780–1838). They had the grandchildren Henrik

Henrik Mohn

Henrik Mohn was a Norwegian astronomer and meteorologist. Although he enrolled in theology studies after finishing school, he is credited with founding meteorological research in Norway, being a professor at the Royal Frederick University and director of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute from...

, Jakob

Jakob Mohn

Jakob Neumann Mohn was a Norwegian statistician.-Personal life:He was born in Bergen as a son of Albert Henrik Mohn and Ida Neumann . Originally named Jacob, he changed the spelling. He was a brother of Henrik and Emanuel Mohn. On the maternal side, he was a grandson of bishop Jacob Neumann...

 and Emanuel Mohn

Emanuel Mohn

Emanuel Meyer Mohn was a Norwegian educator, known for writing about and illustrating mountains in Norway.He was born in Bergen to Albert Henrik Mohn and Ida Neumann . He was a brother of Henrik and Jakob Mohn, and on the maternal side he was a grandson of bishop Jacob Neumann. He did not marry...

 and Kristofer Janson

Kristofer Janson

Kristofer Nagel Janson was a Norwegian poet, author and Unitarian clergyman. Kristofer Janson is commonly recognized as the historical founder of the Norwegian Unitarian Church.-Background:...

.

Career

He studied under Christian Kølle

Christian Kølle

-Background:He was born in Kristiania as a son of government official Jens Kølle and his wife Catharine Hermine Juell. He attended the Christiania Cathedral School, enrolled as a student in 1755 and graduated with the cand.theol. degree in 1760...

 at Snarøya

Snarøya

Snarøya is a populated peninsula in the inner Oslofjord in Norway. A suburb of Oslo, administratively and geographically it belongs to Bærum municipality in Akershus county. It is located south of the districts Lysaker, Lagåsen and Fornebu, and has 2,940 inhabitants.-History:Its name is derived...

 from 1781 to 1785 and in Elsinore

Elsinore

Helsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,279 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde...

 from 1785 to 1787, before enrolling 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...

, where he graduated in 1796 with the cand.theol.

Cand.theol.

Candidatus theologiæ , Candidata theologiæ , abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six year higher education in theology in Denmark and Norway. In Norway, the title has remained after the "Quality Reform", though it is equivalent to a Master of...

 degree. He took the dr.philos. degree in church history in 1799 on the thesis Historia primatus Lundensis. He worked as a private tutor until 1799, when he became curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 in Asker

Asker

Asker is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Viken traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Asker. The municipality is a suburb of Oslo, the national capital...

. In 1805 he was promoted to vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

. He continued writing, being one of the last Rationalists

Rationalism

In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...

 in Norway. In 1811 he published Doctor M. Luthers lille Katechismus, a version of Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's cathechism. He was elected to the first session of the Parliament of Norway in 1814, representing Agershus Amt

Akershus

- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...

. In 1819 he became dean

Dean (religion)

A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...

 of Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

 in 1819. In 1822 he was promoted to bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin

Diocese of Bjørgvin

Bjørgvin Diocese is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers churches located in the counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. The cathedral city is Bergen. Bergen Cathedral, formerly the Church of Saint Olaf, serves as the seat of the presiding Bishop...

. He was a member of Det nyttige Selskab

Det nyttige Selskab

Det nyttige Selskab is a non-profit organization in Bergen, Norway.It was founded in Bergen in 1774 by Jens Boalth , who was the principal at Bergen Cathedral School from 1756 to 1780 and also co-founded the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 1765 and the Philharmonic Drawing School in 1772...

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 , ....

, and was a co-founder of Bergens Sparebank

Bergens Sparebank

Bergens Sparebank was a Norwegian savings bank based in Bergen. It was established in 1823, making it the second-oldest savings bank in Norway and the oldest in Bergen. It merged with 25 savings banks in 1982 to become Sparebanken Vest....

 in 1823 and Bergen Museum

Bergen Museum

The Bergen Museum is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. Founded in 1825 with the intent of building large collections in the fields of culture and natural history, it became the grounds for most of the academic activity in the city, a tradition which has prevailed since the museum became part...

 in 1825. He also served as deputy representative to Parliament in 1824.

He was decorated with the Order of the Dannebrog

Order of the Dannebrog

The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...

 in 1811 and the Order of the Polar Star

Order of the Polar Star

The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....

in 1815. He died in January 1848 in Bergen.