Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg

Count Johan Caspar Herman Wedel Jarlsberg (21 September 1779 – 27 August 1840) was a Norwegian statesman and nobleman. He played an active role in the constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814 and was the first native Norwegian to hold the post of Governor-general of Norway with the authority of a viceroy, representing the absent king of Norway as head of the Norwegian cabinet during the union with Sweden. Background Wedel Jarlsberg was born in Montpellier, France, son of diplomat Frederik Anton Wedel-Jarlsberg (1748–1811) and Catharina von Storm (1756–1802). His younger brother Ferdinand Carl Maria Wedel-Jarlsberg (1781–1857) was a military officer and commanding general of the Royal Norwegian Army. He grew up in London, where his father were serving as diplomat on behalf of Denmark-Norway. From 1794 to 1798, he was tutored by Friedrich August Nitsch, who had studied under Immanuel Kant. Wedel Jarlsberg fled with his brother Frederik Anton in June 1799, to get away from their abusive father. After getting to Edinburgh, they got on a boat to Copenhagen, where their mother had fled to some years earlier, to get away from her husband. There he studied law at the University of Copenhagen and graduated in 1801. He accepted a commission as the king's county governor for the district of Buskerud in 1806. Career During the Napoleonic Wars, his connections with Sweden increased, and when the appointed and adopted Swedish crown prince, Carl August died in 1810, his name was mentioned as a possible substitute in a desperate situation. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was appointed and adopted and changed his name to Carl Johan.