Jacob Faggot

Jacob Faggot was a Swedish scientist, civil servant, and surveyor.

Life and career

Faggot was educated at Uppsala University and later worked as a tutor of Swedish political leader Nils Reuterholm.
From 1727 onwards, he worked in the Lantmäterikontoret as a surveyor and geometry teacher. He became its director in 1747. On his initiative Sweden printed their first cadastral maps. His interest in reforming Swedish agriculture led him to implement the Storskiftet, a land reform to improve agricultural output, similar to the British model, begun in 1749. He was involved in the mapping of Finland and led storskiftesverket in both Finland and Scania.
From 1733 to 1739, Faggot served on the Tabellkommissionen. He later served as a member of the commission to oversee and improve forestry schemes.
He became a founding member of the Royal [Swedish Academy of Sciences] in 1739, serving as its secretary from 1741 to 1744 and again from 1757 to 1760. He criticized the organization for using Latin instead of Swedish, which led to his founding the breakaway group Tungomålsgillet. Due to opposition from the Academy of Sciences, he was unable to get a royal charter for the organization.
Faggot assisted in creating the first Census in Sweden in 1749, after becoming the director of the Survey Office. In later life, he published on agricultural topics. His work researching genealogies via hemmansklyvning led to increased interest in population studies and local history.
In 1730, Faggot married Elisabeth Ehrenström; the couple had five children.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences posthumously awarded a medal to Faggot in 1778.

Selected bibliography

Historien om svenska landtmäteriet och geographie
''Svenska landtbrukets hinder ock hjälp''