The Midelfart family is a Norwegian patrician family of Danish origin. The name is derived from the town of

Middelfart Middelfart is a town in central Denmark, with a population of 16,749 . The town is the municipal seat of Middelfart Municipality on the island of Funen (). Etymology The name Middelfart, first recorded as "Mæthælfar" in Valdemar's Census Book ...

on the island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Its meaning is "middle way" (or more literally, "Middlefare"); it consists of the old Danish word ''mæthal'' meaning "middle" and ''far'' meaning "way," "passage" or "journey". The name originally referred to the

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

''Snævringen'' ("the narrowing"), which is the narrowest part of the

Little Belt The Little Belt (, ) is a strait between the island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish straits, Danish Straits that drain and connect the Baltic Sea to the Kattegat strait, which drains west to the Nor ...

, and was subsequently applied to the settlement as well. Niels Christensen Midelfart (died 1683) became a burgher in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. His great-grandson was the priest

Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart (22 July 1772 – 1 December 1823) was a Norwegian Lutheran minister who served as a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly in 1814. Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart was born in the Byneset par ...

, a member of the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

. Today the family is known for its business activities, particularly the former

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

group Midelfart & Co., founded in 1923. A famous member of the family is the businesswoman

Celina Midelfart Celina Midelfart (born 12 February 1973) is a Norwegian cosmetics heiress and businesswoman. In 1995, she took over the running of the family's health and beauty care business, Midelfart AS. Family A member of the Midelfart family, she is a da ...

."Midelfart," in ''Norsk Slektskalender'', 1951, pp. 138–143

References

Norwegian families Patriciate of Norway {{Norway-stub