Schmidt was born in
Asminderød,
Denmark, to
Christen Schmidt (1727–1804) and Petronelle S. Lemmich (1734–1798). His parents were of Norwegian descent, and they moved to Norway as his father became bishop in 1773. Schmidt enrolled as a student at the
University of Copenhagen in 1787, and after a later hiatus he returned and graduated with the
cand.theol. degree in 1791. He was a member of the
Norwegian Society. Schmidt was a priest in
Christiania from 1792, and started the periodical
Hermoder in 1795, which he edited until 1797. In 1798 he became vicar of
Eiker. He was promoted to
dean in 1808. He also tried to become dean of
Copenhagen, but did not receive the appointment. In 1817 he failed again, in becoming bishop of the
Diocese of Bergen. He took an absence of leave of two years, and then resigned from his position in Eiker. In 1820 he returned to Denmark as vicar of
Himmelev. He took the
dr. theol. degree in 1826 with the thesis
Historia Paulicianorum orientalium. Schmidt took this initiative has he had been elected to the first session of the
Parliament of Norway, representing the constituency of
Buskeruds Amt. He only served one term. After 1814, Schmidt moved back to his birth country of Denmark in resentment over the union with
Sweden, but probably also in frustration that he did not become the
Bishop of Bergen. He was also one of the co-founders of the
Royal Norwegian Society of Development (
Det Kongelige Selskap for Norges Velin) 1809. In 1813 he was appointed a Knight of the
Order of the Dannebrog. Frederik Schmidt died in February 1840 in
Himmelev, Denmark. ==Family and personal life==