Ludvig Stoud Platou (28 March 1778 – 30 November 1833) was a Danish-Norwegian educator, historical and geographical writer, politician and State Secretary. Personal life He was born in Slagelse, Denmark as a son of curate Friderich Christian Platou (1749–1815) and his wife Cathrine Stoud (1751–1824). They had the sons Carl Nicolai Stoud Platou and Frederik Christian Stoud Platou. Ludvig was grandfather of Lars, Valborg and Oscar Ludvig Stoud Platou, and great-grandfather of Carl Platou. He was also a granduncle of Gabriel Andreas Stoud Platou, Christian Emil Stoud Platou and Waldemar Stoud Platou. In May 1808 in Christiania he married Karen Lumholtz (1785–1833), a daughter of dean Nicolai Lumholtz. Since the dean did not approve, the marriage was conducted clandestinely. The couple moved to Oslo Ladegård in 1820, where he died in 1833. Career He studied at the University of Copenhagen from 1795, and was a teacher at Schouboeske Institut from 1801. In 1803 he was hired as a teacher at Christiania Cathedral School in Norway, and from 1806 to 1813 he was a schoolmaster at the same school. However, he was also involved in numerous other tasks. From 1807 to 1809 he was a part-time teacher at the Norwegian Military Academy, and from 1808 to 1814 he edited the government's magazine Budstikken. He co-founded the Royal Norwegian Society of Development in 1809, and held positions here. He published the textbook Kortfattet Jordbeskrivelse for Borger- og Almueskoler in Denmark in 1803, which was reissued several times; the seventeenth and last reissue came in 1842. While working at Christiania Cathedral School he published the books Historisk Udsigt over Norges Skiebne i den syvaarige nordiske Krig in 1808, Geographie over Fædrelandene Danmark og Norge, for Ungdommen in 1809, Haandbog i Geographien, til Brug ved Skole-Underviisning in two volumes in 1809 and 1812, and Udtog af Geographien for Begyndere in 1810. The textbook Udtog af Geographien was reissued fifteen times in Norway (the last in 1862, by his son Carl Nicolai), and published in Sweden in 1832, Iceland in 1843 and Greenland in 1848. He also served as editor of the journal Historisk-philosophiske Samlinger (1811–1813). In 1813 he was appointed as professor of history and statistics at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania. However, he soon started working part-time at the university. In 1815 he was hired as secretary in the Fourth Ministry, and in 1817 he became acting State Secretary for Poul Christian