Cesar von Düben (24 November 1819 – 18 September 1888) was a Swedish photographer, explorer and writer. A pioneering photographer working with the photographic process called daguerreotype, Von Düben set up, according to paper trails, the earliest known commercial photographic studio in Portuguese Macau (now part of Macau).[1] In addition, he wrote on the topic of travel literature.


Cesar von Düben
Born24 November 1819
Stockholm, Sweden-Norway (now part of Sweden)
Died18 September 1888
Skövde, Sweden-Norway
Noble familyDüben family
Spouse(s)
Augusta Lilliestråle
(m. 1860)
IssueIngeborg
FatherAnders Gustaf von Düben
MotherCarolina Maria Eckhardt
OccupationPhotographer

Early life

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Cesar von Düben was born a freiherr on 24 November 1819, in Stockholm,[2] Sweden-Norway (now part of Sweden), and was the fifth of six children of Anders Gustaf[3] and Carolina Maria von Düben (née Eckhardt),[4] an immigrant from Swedish Pomerania (now part of Germany).[5] His father was a painter and a military personnel.

Career

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Von Düben left Sweden in 1843, and spent fifteen years abroad and took up photography.[6] He practiced in Southeast Asia, e.g. Mexico, Manila, Shanghai, Singapore,[7] and in Macau in the 1850s, where he set up a photographic studio, which he announced in local newspapers. He then traveled to Hong Kong, where he set up the same business. Von Düben stayed longer than planned in the cities mentioned.[8] He operated as a photographer at the Hotel der Nederlanden in 1857 too.[9] Moreover, Von Düben and Herman Husband were the first to introduce daguerreotype photography in Shanghai.[10]

In addition, he traveled through India, which he wrote about.[11]

In 1871, Von Düben published a travelogue on the French Guiana, California, China, and the East Indies.

In 1886, Von Düben published another travelogue, Memories from Java.[12]

Von Düben married writer Augusta Lillistråle on 18 June 1860.[5] The couple had a daughter named Ingeborg, born in 1862.

Von Düben died on 18 September 1888, aged 68, in Skövde, Västergötland.[3]

Bibliography

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bennett, Stewart & Payne 2009, p. 199.
  2. ^ "Folkräkningar (Sveriges befolkning) 1880". sok.riksarkivet.se (in Swedish). National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Dödsfall". Katrineholms Tidning (in Swedish). 25 September 1888. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Von Düben nr 139 – Adelsvapen-Wiki". www.adelsvapen.com (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b Sveriges ridderskaps- och adels-kalender: 1865 (in Swedish). Bonnier. 1864.
  6. ^ Bennett, Stewart & Payne 2009, p. 20.
  7. ^ Newton, Gael. "Getting into the picture: Photographers and their customers in the port cities Goa to Manila, 1840–1900". www.photo-web.com.au. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  8. ^ Botas, João (15 June 2021). "Macau Antigo: Cesar Von Duben: fotógrafo itinerante". Macau Antigo (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Nieuwe Photographische Galerij" (in Dutch). Java-bode : nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie. 27 May 1857 – via Delpher.
  10. ^ "Lai Chong Studio, General "Ko-Lin" Daguerreotype: The allegedly earliest known photograph by a Chinese photographer is almost certainly a forgery". Little Museum Of Foreign Brand Advertising in the R.O.C. 民國中外廣告微博物館. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  11. ^ Bennett, Stewart & Payne 2009, p. 25.
  12. ^ Düben, C. von (1886). Minnen från Java (in Swedish). C.E. Fritzes Kungl. Hofbokhandel.

Further reading

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