Diderik von Cappelen (21 June 1761 – 3 April 1828) was a Norwegian wholesaler, merchant, shipowner, estate owner and politician in 1814. He is often referred to as Diderik von Cappelen but he spelt his name ''Didrich von Cappelen'' and is also referred to as Didrik von Cappelen. Mæla Gård

Personal life and family

Cappelen was born at Mæla Manor in

Gjerpen Gjerpen is a former township which is now part of the municipality of Skien, in Telemark county, Norway. Location The parish of Gjerpen was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census t ...

(''Mæla gård i Gjerpen'') in the municipality of

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

, in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. He was one of the sons of the wholesaler, timber merchant and ship owner Diderich von Cappelen (1734–1794) and his first wife Petronelle Pedersdatter Juel (1737–1785). His father was one of the richest ship owners in Norway. Diderik von Cappelen was the elder brother of

Peder von Cappelen Peder von Cappelen (24 January 1763 – 11 March 1837) was a Norwegian merchant and politician. He was involved in timber trade and owner of ironworks, and a member of the Parliament of Norway. Personal life Peder von Cappelen was born and ...

Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen (1770–1820) was a Norwegian businessman, ship owner and timber merchant.Carsten Tank Carsten Tank (24 April 1766 – 28 January 1832) was a Norwegian businessman and politician who served as Norway, Norwegian councilor of government of the 1st Ministry (finance and taxes, March–November 1814), and later councilor of state of t ...

.E.A. Thomle: Familien (von) Cappelen i Norge og Danmark, Christiania 1896, p.75-82 Cappelen was married twice, first to Maria Plesner from 1787, and from 1800 to Marie Severine Blom. Diderik von Cappelen was a grandfather of painter

August Cappelen Hermann August Cappelen (1 May 1827 – 8 March 1852) was a Norwegian painter. Cappelen was best known for his melancholic, dramatic and romantic landscape compositions. Background Hermann August Cappelen was born in Skien, Norway. He was the ...

and of

Axel Nicolai Herlofson Axel Nicolai Herlofson (29 August 1845 in Østre Moland – 1910 in Christiania) was a Norwegian fraudster who is known for causing the Arendal crash, after defrauding customers and co-owners of Arendals Privatbank which he had co-founded ...

. Among other of his descendants are

Didrik Cappelen Didrik Cappelen (8 October 1900 – 27 August 1970) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. He was born at Kviteseid in Telemark, Norway. He was a son of Supreme Court Attorney Didrik Cappelen (1873-1941) and Antoinette Therese von der Lippe ...

Hans Cappelen Hans Cappelen (18 December 1903 – 21 October 1979 ) was a Norwegian jurist, businessperson and resistance fighter. He was born at Kviteseid in Telemark, Norway. He was a son of Supreme Court Attorney Didrik Cappelen (1873–1941) and Anto ...

Andreas Zeier Cappelen Andreas Zeier Cappelen (31 January 1915 – 2 September 2008) was a Norwegian jurist and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Vang, Hedmark. He held a variety of positions in different Norwegian cabinets. He was Minister of Local Gov ...

and with family names i. a. Cappelen, Anker, Arnesen, Blom, Borgfjord, Finne, Flood, Hofgaard, Lund, Løvenskiold, Nicolaisen, Norby, Prebensen, Skråmestø, Wildhagen and Aall, are several business people, estate owners, politicians, lawyers etc. living in Norway, Sweden, Austria and USA.

Career

Cappelen was educated in his father's business, after being in 1779–80 at

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

outside

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

where he also met

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

. Diderik von Cappelen was a successful businessman continuing and expanding the family business. He was a religious man, he helped several poor people, paid for public schools and roads in Skien and paid a considerable amount of money to the establishing of the first Norwegian university. He represented Skien at the

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

in 1814.

References

Other sources

* Anders Bjønnes m.fl. (ed): ''Eidsvollsmennene – Hvem var de?'', Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening, Oslo 2014 Norwegian * Jørn Holme (ed.): ''De kom fra alle kanter - Eidsvollsmennene og deres hus'', Oslo 2014 Norwegian {{DEFAULTSORT:Cappelen, Diderik Von 1761 births 1828 deaths People from Skien Norwegian businesspeople Fathers of the Constitution of Norway

Diderik Diderik or Didrik is a Norwegian male given name. In North Germanic languages, the native form would be ''Tjodrik'', but ''Diderik'' and ''Didrik'' have been loaned from Low German and are now a common name in Norway. It may also be a variant of t ...