The Early Career

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     Poul la Cour was born in the city of Århus in 1846. But he grew up in Djursland where his father was a spiritually and technically gifted farmer. In high school Poul la Cour wanted to become a priest but a poor grade in Greek and an A+ in mathematics indicated that his talents lay elsewhere.
     His brother, J.C. la Cour, who later became president of the Agricultural Society, advised him to study science and become a meteorologist. In 1869, he took his examination for the Msc degree in the new science, meteorology. He was awarded a silver medal for his meteorological thesis on the height of connecting cloud layers.
     When the Meteorological Institute was established in 1872 he became the deputy director and one of his functions was to establish weather stations around the country.
     In 1878, he started as a teacher at Askov Folk High School and began a whole new life. He became an initiator, inventor, folk high school teacher and deeply involved in social conditions. Before he died in 1908, he had been a great influence on many aspects of Danish society at that time.

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