Peter Motzfeldt (3 August 1777 – 1 April 1854) was a Norwegian Military Officer and Government Minister. He served as a member of the

Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

in 1814.

Background

Motzfeldt was born at

Orkdal Orkdal is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Orkland Municipality. It was part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

, Norway. He was the son of infantry captain Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt (1738–83) and Andrea Birgitte Bull. When his father died in 1783, Motzfeldt lived with his uncle, Major Jacob Motzfeldt. He was a cousin of

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. In 1792, he entered the Artillery Academy in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and became second lieutenants in the artillery with the station in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

in 1796. He was stationed in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

and later held as a prisoner of war by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. In 1809, he became commander of an artillery corp 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 of ...

, Norway.

Political career

In 1814, he was elected as a representative from the Bergen Artillery Corp (''Artillerie-Corpset'') at the National Assembly in

. He supported the position of the Independence Party (''Selvstendighetspartiet'') and was a supporter of Crown Prince Christian Frederik and opponent of the union with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Motzfeldt was a member of the Council of State Division in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

1814–1816, 1818–1819, 1824–1825, 1828–1829, 1831–1832, and 1834–1835, Minister of the Army 1816–1818 and 1819–1822, and Minister of Auditing 1829–1831, 1832–1834, 1835–1836, and 1836–1837.

Personal life

He was married to Ernesta Birgitte Margrethe Stenersen (1789–1848). They were the parents of jurist

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 a ...

and government official

Ketil Motzfeldt Ketil Melsted Johnsen Motzfeldt (10 August 1814 - 17 November 1889) was Norwegian Naval Officer and Government Official. Background Motzfeldt was born in Bergen, Norway. His parents were government minister Peter Motzfeldt (1777-1854) and Ernest ...

. Their daughter Jacobine Ida Sophie Motzfeldt married politician

Christian Birch-Reichenwald Christian Birch-Reichenwald (4 January 1814 – 8 July 1891) was a Norwegian jurist and politician who served as mayor of Oslo, Norway. He was born at Blaker in Akershus, Norway. He was the son of to Paul Hansen Birch and Anna Catharina Hoff ...

. Their grandson was statesman, Ernst Motzfeldt. Peter Motzfeldt died during 1854 and was buried at

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour ( no, Vår Frelsers gravlund) is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

References

Other sources

* 1777 births 1854 deaths People from Sør-Trøndelag Napoleonic Wars prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom Norwegian prisoners of war in the Napoleonic Wars Norwegian Army personnel Government ministers of Norway Fathers of the Constitution of Norway Defence ministers of Norway {{Norway-politician-1770s-stub