Jean Abraham Grill
| Jean Abraham Grill | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Johan Abraham Grill 21 July 1736 Helsingør, Denmark |
| Died | 12 March 1792 (aged 55) Norrköping, Sweden |
| Resting place | Godegård, Sweden |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Occupation | Merchant, Supercargo Ironworks owner |
| Organization | Swedish East India Company |
| Net worth | 450,000 Swedish riksdaler (about US$ 22.3 million) approx. at his death. |
| Spouse(s) | Ulrika Lovisa Lüning, |
| Children | Johan Abraham Claes Anthony Christian Ulric, Claes Loretz Anton Volter, Gustaf Anna Greta, Fredrik Wilhelm Carl Jacob, Ludvig |
| Parent(s) |
Abraham Grill, the Younger Anna Maria Petersén |
| Relatives | The Grill family |
| Website | ostindiska |
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Jean Abraham Grill (21 July 1736 – 12 March 1792), sometimes called Johan Abraham Grill, was a Swedish merchant, supercargo, director of the Swedish East India Company (SOIC) and ironmaster at Godegård with several factories.
Grill journeyed to China twice as the representative for the SOIC. He lived in Canton (now known as Guangzhou) as well as Macao for a total of almost ten years, doing trade for the company during the arrival of three Swedish ships. In China he lived the life of an adventurer; survived a shipwreck, traded with other East Asian countries together with his partner Michael Grubb and smuggled opium from India to China.
He returned to Sweden in 1768, a wealthy man and lived the rest of his life in Swedish high society, writing minor essays about his travels as member of the Royal Swedish Academies of Sciences and Music. He married Lovisa Ulrika Lüning and bought the Godegård Manor and several ironworks, which he renovated and improved. When Grill died in 1792, his wife took over his business and ran the ironworks and factories.
His most notable legacy is the notes, correspondence, accounts, cargo lists and books he kept during his life. They are preserved in the Godegård Archive and in the Gothenburg University Library.
One of the Grill family, Jean Abraham Grill was the eldest son of merchant Abraham Grill, the Younger (1707–68) and Anna Maria Petersen (1713–54). He was born in Helsingør where his father was the Swedish consul at that time. In 1746, the family moved to Gothenburg where his father had started a trading house. When Jean Abraham was 14 years old, he started working as an apprentice in his fathers office, and three years later he became a clerk at the Swedish East India Company (SOIC). Through his fathers mediation he was appointed to second assistant on the ship Sophia Albertina for its journey to Canton (now known as Guangzhou) between 1755 and 1756.
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