Frederik Ludvig Norden (22 October 1708 – 22 September 1742) was a Danish naval captain, cartographer, and archaeological explorer. His given names were written in a variety of ways depending on the language of publication, including Frederic Louis, Friderik Ludwig, Frederik Ludvig, and Frederick Lewis. He is the author in French of one of the very first travelogues about Egypt, Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie, written half a century before Napoleon's expedition (1798–1801).
Norden came from a military family and entered the Royal Danish Naval Academy at the age of 13. Having excelled there in illustration he directed to travel abroad and gather information to be sent back to Denmark. He travelled extensively through the Netherlands from 1732–1734, Italy from 1734–1737, and most famously from Egypt through Sudan and Ethiopia in 1737–1738.
Early life and education
Frederik Ludvig Norden was born in Holstein-Glückstadt on 22 October 1708 to Catherine Henrichsen of Rendsburg and Jørgen Norden. At the time, his father was an artillery Captain; he would become a Lieutenant colonel before his death in 1728. Frederik Ludvig was one of five sons.
Norden entered the Royal Danish Naval Academy at Copenhagen in 1722 where he became a cadet in 1723. While at the Naval Academy, Norden excelled at illustration. In 1738, he and the expedition returned to Denmark. The society published a sample of his work that year in Drawings of some ruins and colossal statues at Thebes in Egypt.