Peter Fredrik Feilberg (7 April 1800 – 5 August 1863) was a Norwegian newspaper editor, bookseller and printer, who also served as mayor 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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

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 th ...

, Norway. He was the son of Jacob Feilberg (1753-1816) and Anna Granberg (1761-1854). His family had immigrated from

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

Southern Schleswig Southern Schleswig (german: Südschleswig or ', da, Sydslesvig; frr, Söödslaswik) is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eider ...

in 1787. Peter Feilberg was a

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

r by education. He also operated a printing press, ran a book shop and later a rental library. In 1830 Feilberg started '' Skiens Ugeblad'' which was the first newspaper in Skien. He was notably convicted of

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

in 1837 and sentenced to pay 60

speciedaler The rigsdaler specie was a unit of silver currency used in Norway, renamed as the speciedaler in 1816 and used until 1873. Norway used a common reichsthaler currency system shared with Denmark, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein until 1873 when the go ...

; the complaint having been filed by County Governor Frederik Wilhelm Wedel Jarlsberg (1787-1863). Feilberg's defender Pavels Hielm (1781-1846) was also convicted of inappropriate procedure and was sentenced to pay a fine of 10 speciedaler for having recited a poem during the final speech of the defence. ''Skiens Ugeblad'' was liquidated in 1839, but in January 1840 he started another newspaper ''

Bratsberg Amtstidende ''Bratsberg Amtstidende'' was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien in Telemark county. It also held the names ''Ugeblad for Skien og Omegn'' (1830 to 1840), ''Bratsberg Amtstidende og Correspondent'' (1843 to 1844) and ''Skiensposten'' (1863 t ...

''. In 1843 Herman Bagger (1800-1880) was brought in as co-editor and the name of the newspaper was changed to ''Bratsberg Amtstidende og Correspondent''. In 1844, Bagger left to form his own newspaper ''Bratsberg Amts Correspondent'' (later changed to ''

Correspondenten ''Correspondenten'' was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien in Telemark county. ''Bratsberg Amts Correspondent'' was started on 1 January 1844, and changed its name in August 1846. It was the project of politician Herman Bagger. In 1842 he ...

'') which was pressed by Jens Melgaard who owned a pressing plant rivaling that of Feilberg. At that time, Feilberg's newspaper reverted to its former name of ''Bratsberg Amtstidende''. ''Bratsberg Amtstidende'' and ''Correspondenten'' would maintain a fierce rivalry. In 1837, when local government was introduced in Norway, Feilberg was elected to the first city council of Skien. This was made possible in part when County Governor Wedel Jarlsberg stepped down that same year. Feilberg had allied with Frederik Charlow Sophus Borchsenius (1808-1880) who was a member of parliament. Feilberg then served as mayor of Skien from 1838 to 1840. Herman Bagger, who had previously served as mayor of

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 th ...

, later became mayor of Skien and also a long serving

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Personal life

In 1824, he with married to his cousin Henrikke Fransiska Feilberg (1800-1872). His daughter Eleonora Amanda Feilberg (1833-1883) and her son Peter Fredrik Feilberg-Hansen (1862-1935) were also photographers. The son Karl-Fredrik Feilberg (1828-190 ) was Rector of

Kristiansand Cathedral School Kristiansand Cathedral School (''Kristiansand katedralskole Gimle''), known in Latin as ''Schola Christiansandensis'', is a high school in Kristiansand, Agder, Norway. It is the oldest high school on the southern coast of Norway, having been fo ...

References

1800 births 1863 deaths Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian booksellers Norwegian printers Mayors of places in Telemark Politicians from Skien Politicians from Tønsberg 19th-century Norwegian journalists Male journalists 19th-century Norwegian writers 19th-century Norwegian male writers {{Norway-politician-1800s-stub