Christian Roselius

Christian Roselius (10 August 18035 September 1873) was a German-born American lawyer, and educator in Louisiana. He was the Attorney General of Louisiana, and served for a term of two years from 1841 to 1843.

Biography Roselius was born 10 August 1803 near Bremen, Duchies of Bremen and Verden (now Germany). His early education was limited to the elementary schooling. In 1819, he left Germany on board the bark Jupiter for New Orleans, having secured his passage by an indenture. Roselius possessed one of the finest private libraries in the South. It was particularly rich in the Latin classics, of which he was a constant reader, and in Shakespeariana, of which he was a devoted student. He conversed equally well in English, French, and German.

His house and spacious grounds at Greenville, a suburb of New Orleans, was noted for its generous hospitality, few persons of distinction visiting New Orleans during the last two decades of his life without being entertained by Roselius, who was a cheery and charming host. His hand and purse were always open to the unfortunate, and one of several visits to his native land was for the sole purpose of aiding some of his less prosperous kinsmen. By 1860, Roselius owned fifteen houses around New Orleans, and possessed nine enslaved black people.

He died on 5 September 1873 in New Orleans.