Martin Johannes Hammerich was a Danish art historian, educator, author and translator. He was part of the National Liberal movement and a member of the 1848 Danish Constituent Assembly. He was headmaster of Borgerdydskolerne from 1842 to 1867.
Early life and education
Hammerich was born in Copenhagen, the son of merchant Johannes Hammerich and Meta Magdalena Adolph. He was the brother of theologian and historian Frederik Hammerich and the father of engineer Holger Hammerich. He grew up in a wealthy home, graduating from Borgerdydskolerne in Christianshavn in 1828. He then enrolled at the University of Copenhagen where he won the 2nd prize for a paper on freedmen in Ancient Rome before graduating in theology in 1833. He obtained a master's degree in 1836 with a thesis on the Ragnarok myth and its role in Old Norse religion. It was the first thesis written in Danish at the university. He had in an application pointed out the unreasonableness in treating a Nordic subject in Latin and was in spite of King Frederik VI's concerns granted a dispensation.
Travels and early academic career
Hammerich's primary interests were philology and mythology, from Iceland to India. After his thesis he went abroad to continue his studies. He initially traveled to the University of Bonn to study Sanskrit under professor August Wilhelm Schlegel, and later continued to Oxford University where he studied under English orientalist Horace Hayman Wilson. His next journey abroad, in 1838, took him to France, Italy and Greece. After his return to Denmark, he was a co-founder of the Liberal Student Society alongside Carl Ploug , Andreas Frederik Krieger, Ditlev Gothard Monrad and others, briefly serving as its chairman. It was already shoot down by the university board in 1840. In 1841–44, he was employed as acting docent in Sanskrit at the University. His interest in Ancient Indian culture had been inspired by reading Sacontalá or The Fatal Ring as translated by Danish consul Hans West. In 1845, influenced by an improved version by Sanskrit scholar Otto von Böhtlingk, Hammerich published a Danish language translation entitled Sacontala eller den uheldige Ring.
Educator
After the death of Niels Bygum Krarup in 1842, Hammerich was appointed as new headmaster of Borgerdydskolerne, his old school in Christianshavn. He stayed in the position for 25 years. A a member of a school commission and through numerous articles, he had a significant impact on Johan Nicolai Madvig and the reorganization of the secondary school system in 1850.
Politics
Hammerich was part of the Scandinavian movement. He was a co-founder of the Scandinavian Society in 1843 and the Nordic Literary History Society in 1854. He was a board member of the Swedish Letterstedtka Association from 1876. Hammerich was elected for Roskilde Provincial Assembly and a member of the Danish Constituent Assembly elected in Copenhagen's 1st District.
Publisher and writer
Hammerich and G. Rode published Aandelige Sjunge-Chor by Bishop Thomas Kingo. He also contributed to a book on Ludvig Holberg and wrote a small book on Danish and Norwegian literature as well as Evalds Levnet, the biography of dramatist Johannes Ewald. He also wrote a book on oeuvre of sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen posthumously published as Om Fremstillingens Kunst i Retning af det almeenlæselige. His speeches, lectures and articles have been published in the five-volume Smaaskrifter om Cullur og Underviisning.
Personal life
Hammerich married Anna Mathea Aagaard, a daughter of Holger Halling Aagaard and Marie Koes on 3 December 1841. The family lived at Wildersgade 5 in Christianshavn from 1844. He became a knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1856. He inherited the estate Iselingen in Vordingborg from his father-in-law in 1867. He died on the estate on 20 September 1881. He is buried at Ørslev Cemetery. The head stone was designed by Thorvald Bindesbøll and features a portrait relief by Vilhelm Bissen.
