Diderich de Thurah

Diderich de Thurah (1704–1788) was a military cadet, a naval officer in the Royal Danish-Norwegian navy, shipbuilder and fabrikmester, artist and publisher.

He studied with, and worked under, Knud Benstrup. He conspired against Benstrup, but proved an unworthy successor as Fabrikmester. In later life he achieved notability in translating Lutheran texts from English and German, into Danish. The painting of "Diderich de Thurah in his office on Nyholm" is attributed to O.H. de Lode.

Naval career

In 1723, Diderich de Thurah received an immediate commission into the Royal Danish navy after presenting a fine carved model in amber of the ship-of-the-line Anne Sophie to the king. There was some discussion over his salary which was still that of a cadet, and he could not make his travel expenses stretch. He received his lieutenant's salary from 1 January 1725, but continued to plead that lack of funds led to him missing out on several learning opportunities. he became head of naval shipbuilding, fabrikmester in 1734. and Dannebrog, and ordered to curb his animosity and attend more professionally to his duties. Although he retained the title of fabrikmester until 1758, his designs were not acceptable for ships of the fleet, and the Frenchman Laurent Barbé was appointed as chief ship designer. Dannebroge (1739) ship-of-the-line Fyen (1736) ship-of-the-line (Because of poor sailing qualities, this ship was decommissioned and sold to the Danish Asiatic Company in 1745.) Langeland (1736) brig Møen (1736) brig Windhunden (1754) yacht or kongebaad Unnamed (1736) boat

Other interests He was an artist, known for carving amber and ivory.

On leaving the navy, until his death in 1788, Thurah was busy for many years with literary work and translations, particularly in relation to religious art and tracts. Amongst the pieces he translated from English were works by James Blair, Thomas Newton, William Sherlock and Lady Pakington. In this later career, he proved more successful than in his earlier life as a naval officer.

Burial Thurah died in Copenhagen on 1 March 1788 and was buried in St. Peter's Church, the German-speaking Lutheran church.