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Theodor Peterson

Norwegian politician (1839-1888)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ7781612
Source-derived summary

Theodor Peterson (12 June 1839 – 9 January 1888) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician. He is known for his development of the family company M. Peterson & Søn, and also served one term in the Norwegian Parliament.

Personal life

He was born in 1839 as a son of Peter Christian Peterson and Hedevig Jacoba Sandberg. He was a grandson of Momme Peterson, who in 1801 had founded the company M. Peterson & Søn. In July 1862 he married Sara Margrethe Caroline Thorne, a sister of Johan Henrik Paasche Thorne and daughter of Johan Frederik Thorne.

Career

The family company M. Peterson & Søn had been expanded from its 1801 origins as a general store, to a larger company with a spinning mill, timber trade and regular shipping. Theodor Peterson discontinued the shipping operations, instead choosing to venture into the pulp and paper industry. Having bought Moss Iron Works together with Johan Henrik Paasche Thorne and Georg Wankel in 1875, he became the sole proprietor in 1878 as he took over Thorne and Wankel's shares in exchange of his company's ships. Then, he used the site of the iron works to develop new industry. The factory Moss Cellulosefabrik was built in November 1882, and in 1883 production of cellulose sulfate commenced there.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Theodor Peterson” is norwegian politician (1839-1888). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Theodor, Peterson and Norwegian, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1839, 1888, 1801, 1862—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1839-06-12. For this dossier, Theodor, Peterson and Norwegian is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “norwegian politician (1839-1888)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7781612. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1839, 1888, 1801 and 1862.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Theodor Peterson”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Theodor Peterson primary sources, Theodor Peterson archive and Theodor research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Theodor Peterson”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Theodor Peterson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.