Olof Tempelman | |
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Born |
Olof Samuel Tempelman February 21, 1745 Källstad, Östergötland, Sweden |
Died | July 27, 1816 , Sweden |
(aged 71)
Occupation | Architect, professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts |
Olof Samuel Tempelman (February 21, 1745, Källstad, Östergötland - July 27, 1816, ) was a Swedish architect and, from 1779, professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He was appointed royal architect in 1799.
He was the son of Samuel Tempelman (1711-1748), curate of Herrestad, and his wife Susanna Maria Ridderström (1718-1753). According to tradition, the name was derived from the Templars. The family had immigrated from Dorpat in [Estonia], and had for generations lived in Östergötland. Susanna was the daughter of a captain and grew up in Östergötland. When Tempelman was three years old, his father died. He was cared for by his father's older brother, Peter Tempelman, who served as priest in the Östra Stenby congregation. His uncle was a man of scientific interest, who collected books and had contact with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Tempelman had a happy childhood and showed an early interest in design. His received his early education at home and continued studying, along with his cousin, at the high school in Linköping.
At Uppsala University in 1763, he began studying theology and the humanities while working as a tutor for income. But he eventually immersed himself in science, following in the likes of Carl Linnaeus, Anders Celsius, and Samuel Klingenstierna. Tempelman wrote a thesis in astronomy under Daniel Melanderhjelm before starting on a master's thesis in physics, De frictione corporum super plano horizontale motorum.
Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz succeeded Carl Johan Cronstedt as Superintendent of Antiquities in 1767, and two years later, he hired Tempelman. Adelcrantz hired Tempelman for his insight and skill, and took a personal interest in his development. While Tempelman wrote his master's thesis, he began work as an architect at the Superintendent's office. The thesis was elegantly illustrated and dedicated to Adelcrantz. He also continued to tutor and met the city architect Carl Henric König, one of the era's most skilled and high-profile architects as well as technically literate; he created drawings and descriptions for the inventor Christopher Polhem. This was the area that interested Tempelman.