Johan Ludvig Holstein

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Johan Ludvig Holstein, Lensgreve til Ledreborg (7 September 1694 – 29 January 1763) was a Danish statesman who served as Minister of State from 1735 to 1751. He was born in Lübz, Mecklenburg, Germany, the son of Johan Georg Holstein and Ida von Bülow. After studying in Hamburg and traveling in Europe, he began his service in Denmark in 1716. He rose quickly: he became marshal of the court to Crown Prince Christian in 1721, joined the College of Missions and led the Waisenhuset orphanage in 1727, and, under King Christian VI, held several high offices including stiftsamtmand of Zealand and amtmann of Copenhagen and Roskilde.

In 1734 he became Minister of Finance, and on 12 May 1735 he was appointed leading secretary of the Danish chancery, effectively the Minister of State, and joined the king’s council. He also served as patron of the University of Copenhagen from 1740. In 1742 he helped establish the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and served as its president for life; the academy chose to publish in Danish, while Holstein’s mother tongue was German.

Holstein was deeply religious and pietistic, studied Greek, and corresponded with notable scholars. In 1739–1740 he built Ledreborg Manor near Lejre, which became the Ledreborg estate and, in 1750, a comital trust (lensgrevskap). He married Hedevig Vind in 1733, and they had three children, including Christian Frederik Holstein.

The Greenland colony Holsteinsborg (now Sisimiut) was named after him. At his death he left a library of about 20,000 books and many manuscripts; these are now in the Royal Library in Copenhagen.