Johannes Eurenius biography

Johannes ‘Jöns’ Jacobi Eurenius (1688-1751) was a Swedish dean and pastor in Torsåker, Ångermanland, northern Sweden. He was son of Pastor Jakob Abraham Eurenius. Johannes Eurenius studied in Uppsala where he in 1716 became Master of Arts (magister). In 1719 he was appointed principal (konrektor), and in 1722 he became Eloquent Associate Professor (eloquentiæ lector) in Harnösand, and in 1725 he became pastor (kyrkoherda) in Torsåker, Ångermanland.

Johannes Eurenius is best known for his book ATLANTICA ORIENTALIS Eller Atlands Näs, Til des rätta Belägenhet beskrifwet för många år sedan (Strengnäs, Sweden, 1751). The 157 page book describes that the Swedes, Goths, and related tribes are the descendants of the Israelite tribes which were deported out of the land of Israel app. 721 BC. Eurenius wrote that the Greek myth of the lost land of Atlantis was a folk memory of the Israelites’ lost land of Israel/Palestine, from where they had been deported. Hence the title of the book.

Johannes Eurenius had to go through much opposition before Atlantica Orientalis was finally published in 1751, because many preferred Olof Rudbeck’s thesis from Atland Eller Manheim (1679), where he claimed that Scandinavia was the mythic Atlantis.

Atlantica Orientalis was also published in a Latin translation in 1764.

Johannes Eurenius was a learned man who was held in great respect for his teachings. He was also viewed as a brilliant man of the church, and was in particular known for his linguistical and musical talents.

This is a list of some of the books written by Johannes Eurenius:

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