Ketil Melsted Johnsen Motzfeldt (10 August 1814 - 17 November 1889) was

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

Naval Officer and Government Official.

Background

Motzfeldt was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, Norway. His parents were government minister Peter Motzfeldt (1777-1854) and Ernesta Birgitte Margrethe Stenersen (1789-1848). He was the brother of

Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt (27 January 1807 – 10 July 1865) was a Norwegian jurist and politician. He served five terms in the Norwegian Parliament, including two years as President. He was also a professor at the University of Christiania and ...

and brother-in-law of Christian Birch-Reichenwald. He was a nephew of both

Frederik Motzfeldt Frederik Motzfeldt (2 November 1779 – 2 January 1848) was a Norwegian politician. He was a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. Motzfeldt was born at Skaun in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. He was raised in Trondhje ...

and Carl Frederik Motzfeldt.

Career

Motzfeldt was naval cadet at

Fredriksvern Fredriksvern (also called ''Friderichsværn'' (1801), ''Frederiksværn'' (1865), ''Fredriksværen'' (1900) and abbreviated ''Frsværn'') was an important Norwegian naval base, just south of Larvik in Vestfold. It is named after Fredrik V Denmark- ...

Norwegian naval base in 1826. He was a second lieutenant by 1841, then First Lieutenant in 1852. He entered the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

in 1857. He was Minister of the Navy and Minister of Postal Affairs in 1860, member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm 1860–1861, and Minister of the Navy in 1861. From 1870 to 1885, he was elected as a member of Parliament from Jarlsberg og Laurvigs Amt (now

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

Personal life

He was married to Hedvig Susanne Amalie Rosenvinge (1840-1903), the daughter of Eiler Schøller Rosenvinge (1813-1849), a member of the

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

Rosenvinge family.

References

1814 births 1889 deaths Politicians from Bergen Military personnel from Bergen Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Government ministers of Norway 19th-century Norwegian politicians {{Norway-politician-1810s-stub