Person Oldenburg; Henry (c 1619 - 1677); natural philosopher and scientific correspondent Oldenburg Henry natural philosopher and scientific correspondent Heinrich Oldenburg Grubendol c 1619 - 1677 German Male Free and imperial city of Bremen, Europe c 1619 16190000 Pall Mall, London, England, Europe 5 September 1677 16770905 Burial: St Mary the Virgin, Bexley, England, Europe (7 September 1677)

Pall Mall (-1677)

Administrator; Publisher; Translator Education: Paedegogium Bremen (-1633); Gymnasium illustre in Bremen (MTh 1639); Oxford (entered 1656) Career: Tutor to variety of both royalist and parliamentary men across Europe and England (1641-1653); Envoy to England to negotiate recognition of Bremen's neutrality (1653); Tutor to the Honywood family in Kent (1654-1655); Tutor to Henry, son of Barnabas O'Brien, 6th Earl of Thomond, and Richard Jones (FRS 1663), son of Robert Boyle's sister, Catherine, Lady Ranelagh (1656); accompanied Jones to France and Germany (1657-1660); acted as publisher to Robert Boyle; published 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society' (1665-1677); imprisoned in the Tower of London on suspicion that his extensive foreign correspondence was political, rather than scientific (20 June 1667-26 August 1667); worked as a translator (1670) Parents: Heinrich Oldenburg (d.1634) Married: 1) Dorothy West (c.1623-1665) 2) Dora Katherina Durie (originally his ward; 1654-1677) Children: Sophia Oldenburg (b.1672) and Rupert Oldenburg (1675-1724) Oldenburg's profession as a tutor provided him with a variety of connections and contacts across the continent, which he worked hard at maintaining throughout his life. Robert Boyle (FRS 1660) acted as his patron for many years and provided him a profession as his translator, editor, and publisher. His correspondence with Baruch Spinoza was published in the latter's 'Opera posthuma' (1677). His social contacts and activity in providing information across borders, under the anagrammatical pseudonym Grubendol, did contribute to him being imprisoned in the Tower of London. However, Oldenburg is frequently credited with forging relationships and connections with potential persons of interest for the Society, e.g. he reportedly persuaded Isaac Newton to publish his findings in the 'Philosophical Transactions'. Royal Society roles: Secretary 1663-1677; Editor of 'Philosophical Transactions' 1665-1677 Committee and panels: Committee to consider of Mr Buckland's proposition to plant potatoes through all the parts of England (1662) ; Committee for Correspondence (c.1664) ; Committee for Agriculture [Georgics] (c.1664) ; Mechanical Committee (c.1664); Committee to consider of Mr Buckland's proposition to plant potatoes through all the parts of England (1662) ; Committee for Correspondence (c.1664) ; Committee for Agriculture [Georgics] (c.1664) ; Mechanical Committee (c.1664) Original Fellow 22/04/1663 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Shaw LD Notes: Hall and Hall give birth date between 1617 and 1620; Hunter, and DSB, give 1618; DNB and index to BR give c 1615. Hunter gives a possible election date as 26 December 1660. A note in index to BR says 'Hooke's diary for death date'. Possible death dates of 5 or 17 September 1677 (earlier from DSB). DSB gives place of death as London. It seems that Oldenburg's wife died on 17 September 1677. References: H W Robinson, 'Gleanings from the Library - I. A Note on the Early Minutes' in NR 1938 vol 1 pp 92-95 C S S, 'The Society's Library' in NR 1938 vol 1 pp 21-27 G H Turnbull, 'Samuel Hartlib's Influence on the Early History of the Royal Society' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 101-130 R K Bluhm, 'Henry Oldenburg, FRS (c. 1615-1677)' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 183-197, plate Marie Boas Hall, 'What Happened to the Latin Edition of Boyle's History of Cold?' in NR 1962 vol 17 pp 32-35 A Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall, 'Some Hitherto Unknown Facts about the Private Career of Henry Oldenburg' in NR 1963 vol 18 pp 94-103 E N da C Andrade, 'The Birth and Early Days of the Philosophical Transactions' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 9-27 Christopher Hill, 'The Intellectual Origins of the Royal Society - London or Oxford?' in NR 1968 vol 23 pp 144-156 A Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall, 'Further Notes on Henry Oldenburg' in NR 1968 vol 23 pp 33-42 Marie Boas Hall, 'The Royal Society's Role in the Diffusion of Information in the Seventeenth Century' in NR 1974-5 vol 29 pp 173-192 Michael Hunter, 'The Social Bias and Changing Fortunes of an Early Scientific Institution: An Analysis of the Membership of the Royal Society, 1660-1685' in NR 1976-7 vol 31 pp 9-114 Michael Hunter, 'A "College" for the Royal Society: The Abortive Plan of 1667-1668' in NR 1983-84 vol 38 pp 159-186 Kathleen H Ochs, 'The Royal Society of London's History of Trades Programme: An Early Episode in Applied Science' in NR 1984-85 vol 39 pp 129-158 Charles A Rivington, 'Early Printers to the Royal Society 1663-1708' in NR 1984-85 vol 39 pp 1-27 Laurel Brodsley, Sir Charles Frank and John W Steeds, 'Prince Rupert's Drops' in NR 1986-87 vol 41 pp 1-26 P B Wood, 'Hevelius's Business: An Unpublished Letter from Henry Oldenburg to the Earl of Tweeddale' in NR 1989 vol 43 pp 25-29 A Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall, 'Additions and Corrections to The Correspondence of Henry Oldenburg' in NR 1990 vol 44 pp 143-150 Sir Alan Cook, 'The 350th Anniversary of the Birth of G W Leibniz, FRS' in NR 1996 vol 50 pp 153-163 Susana Gomez Lopez, 'The Royal Society and Post-Galilean Science in Italy' in NR 1997 vol 51 pp 35-44 Iordan Avramov, 'An Apprenticeship in Scientific Communication: the Early Correspondence of Henry Oldenburg (1656-63)' in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 187-201, plate Sir Alan Cook, 'Our Foreign Correspondence' in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 179-182 Marta Cavazza, 'The Institute of Science of Bologna and the Royal Society in the eighteenth century' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 3-25, plate R Lewis, 'The publication of John Wilkins's Essay (1668): some contextual considerations' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp133-146 R W Home, 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 1. 1731-1847' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 307-332 S Mandelbrote, 'From Bremen to Pall Mall. Henry Oldenburg. Shaping The Royal Society, by M B Hall' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 389-390 A Cook, 'Rome and the Royal Society, 1660-1740' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 3-19 H Gest, 'The Discovery of Microorganisms by Robert Hooke and Antoni von Leeuwenhoek, Fellows of the Royal Society' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 187-201 T Quinn, 'In this issue' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 245 - 247 N Malcolm, 'An unpublished letter from Henry Oldenburg to Johann Heinrich Rahn' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 249 - 266 J Gribbin, 'The Fellowship', 2005, pp154-157 A M Roos ''Magic Coins' and Magic Squares': the discovery of astrological sigils in the Oldenburg Letters.' in NR 2008 vol 62 pp 271-288 Ana Maria Alfonso-Goldfarb, Marcia Helena Mendes Ferraz, Piyo M Rattansi, 'Seventeenth Century "Treasure" found in Royal Society Archives: the 'LUDUS HELMONTII and the stone disease' in NR 2014, vol 68. no 3, pp 227-243 Notes: The election date is Oldenburg's re-election date into the Society after the grant of the second charter in April 1663. All Fellows admitted in a two-month window after this charter, until 22 June 1663, are considered Original Fellows. He was previously elected on 26 December 1660. Oldenburg P0097.jpg ©The Royal Society International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH6337 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/image-rs-9673 between 1617 and 1620 - 5 or 17 Sep 1677 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 08/11/2021 as part of Name Authority Project update. NA8001 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 25/11/2025 RS_NET\JonathanB Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/39399338 dddcd09b-cad1-4bea-a875-4ec1e0ce9ee7