Hans Christian Petersen
Hans Christian Petersen ( born August 11, 1793 in Kristiansand, † September 26, 1862 in Christiania ) was a Norwegian lawyer, civil servant and politician. From 1858 to 1861 he was de facto Prime Minister of Norway.
His parents were the Stadtphysikus Claus Peter Petersen (1762-1823) and his wife Christine Wilhelmine Lakier ( 1768-1817 ).
Life
He grew up in Kristiansand and went there in the Latin School. In 1810 he began to study law in Copenhagen. On 14 January 1814, he passed the theoretical legal examination, the same day on which the Peace of Kiel was concluded. He wanted to return to Norway immediately to take part in the struggle for independence. But the blockade prevented the return. So he went with some women in a rowing boat on the Swedish coast, from where he disguised as a carter traveled to Christiania. One of the attendants was later his wife.
In April 1814, he was reeve in Kragerø, the same year he led the Seekriegskommissariat and in September of the same year he became secretary of the newly established protocol Supreme Court.
In 1817 he was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court and directed until 1817 a lucrative law firm.
From 1821 he was back at the imperial court and defended, among others, in 1821 the State Council Thomas Fasting ( accumulation of offices as State and Navy commander ) and 1827 Jonas Collett ( Unconstitutional instructions as finance minister ), and in 1836 Minister of State Severin Løvenskiold ( He had in Stockholm the decree King Karl Johan in the dissolution of Storting without question in Christiania countersigned ). The last process he lost. He was very eloquent, probably due to his experience as an actor in " Det dramatiske Selskap " until 1827. Also in the first Doktordisputation at the University of Christiania in 1817, he was noticed by his skilful Latin expression. From 1830 to 1834, he was appointed government lawyer, but resigned the office because they could not agree on the content and calculated to 1837 individually his votes for the government. In 1836 he was offered a council of state post, but he refused. Instead, he was 1837 pin bailiff in Christiania. Two years later he joined but in the government and became chief of the Navy Department. From 1840 to 1841 and again from 1843 to 1844, he held his position in the Council of State Division in Stockholm. From 1845 to 1847 he was head of the Justice Department. After that he often changed the departments and was at the end of 1859 to 1861 head of the audit department. From 1858 to 1861 he led the Norwegian government, but without the title " Minister of State ", which was introduced for this position until 1873. He resigned this office after the King had announced his displeasure about his attitude in the controversy over the Swedish-Norwegian Union Committee.
Petersen was the founder of Norsk Retstidende, which quickly became the essential tool for lawyers.
He was from 1846 Member of " Det Norske Kongelige Videnskabers Selskab ".
Family
He married on 27 May 1816 in Christiania Kirstine Marie Thrane (* July 12, 1796; † February 5, 1876 ). She was the daughter of businessman and City captain Paul Thrane (1753-1830) and his wife Judith Abigael Clausen ( 1775-1833 ).
Government offices