# Knud Ibsen

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Norwegian merchant and father of Henrik Ibsen (1797–1877)

*Charitas*, the ship captained by Knud's father when he died at sea in 1797

[Rising](/source/Rising%2C_Norway), where Knud grew up

[Stockmanngården](/source/Stockmanng%C3%A5rden) in Skien, where Knud Ibsen lived with his brother Christopher from 1825. In the same year he married [Marichen Altenburg](/source/Marichen_Altenburg), who moved in with them, and [Henrik Ibsen](/source/Henrik_Ibsen) was born there in 1828

The roof and one of the windows of [Altenburggården](/source/Altenburgg%C3%A5rden) can be seen in the middle of the picture. Altenburggården was Marichen Altenburg's childhood home. The Ibsen family lived there 1831–1836

Venstøp outside Skien, originally the Ibsen family's summer house, where they lived permanently 1836–1843. It was a reasonably large farm with large, representative buildings.

**Knud Plesner Ibsen** (3 October 1797, in [Skien](/source/Skien_(town)) – 24 October 1877, in Skien) was a Norwegian merchant from the city of [Skien](/source/Skien_(town)) and the father of the playwright [Henrik Ibsen](/source/Henrik_Ibsen). He is widely considered the model for many central characters in his son's plays, including Jon Gynt in *[Peer Gynt](/source/Peer_Gynt)* and Old Ekdahl in *[The Wild Duck](/source/The_Wild_Duck)*. Through the [Paus family](/source/Paus_family)—the family of Knud's stepfather [Ole Paus](/source/Ole_Paus_(shipowner)) and Marichen's mother Hedevig—Knud was raised as a close relative of his would-be wife [Marichen Altenburg](/source/Marichen_Altenburg), although they were not closely related biologically.[1][2]

## Early life

Knud Ibsen was the son of ship's captain Henrich Johan Ibsen and Johanne Plesner; his paternal great-grandfather had immigrated from Denmark to Norway in 1726. His father died at sea outside Hesnesøya near [Grimstad](/source/Grimstad) in November 1797, and the following year, Johanne married ship's captain [Ole Paus](/source/Ole_Paus_(shipowner)); in 1799 Ole Paus bought the estate [Rising](/source/Rising%2C_Norway) near Skien after selling the Ibsen house in downtown Skien, and the family moved to Rising in 1800.[3] Knud Ibsen grew up at Rising with most of his half-siblings, among them the later lawyer and member of parliament [Christian Cornelius Paus](/source/Christian_Cornelius_Paus) and shipowner and banker [Christopher Blom Paus](/source/Christopher_Blom_Paus). One of his half-brothers, [Henrik Johan Paus](/source/Henrik_Johan_Paus), grew up in the Skien home of their aunt, uncle and cousin Marichen Altenburg, Knud's later wife.

## Burghership and marriage

In 1825 Knud Ibsen, aged 28, acquired the [burghership](/source/Burgher_(title)) of Skien and established an independent business as a timber and luxury goods merchant there with his younger brother [Christopher Blom Paus](/source/Christopher_Blom_Paus), then aged 15, as his apprentice. The two brothers moved into the [Stockmanngården](/source/Stockmanng%C3%A5rden) building, where they rented a part of the building and lived with a maid. On the first floor the brothers sold foreign wines and a variety of luxury items, while also engaging in wholesale export of timber in cooperation with their first cousin Diderik von Cappelen (1795–1866).

On 1 December 1825 Knud married his stepfather's niece [Marichen Altenburg](/source/Marichen_Altenburg), whom he had known since childhood.[4] Henrik Ibsen was born in Stockmanngården in 1828. In 1830 Marichen's mother Hedevig left [Altenburggården](/source/Altenburgg%C3%A5rden) and her properties and business ventures to her son-in-law Knud, and the Ibsen family moved to Marichen's childhood home in 1831. During the 1820s and 1830s Knud was a wealthy young merchant in Skien, and he was the city's 16th largest taxpayer in 1833.[5]

## Venstøp years

In 1835 the family was forced to sell Altenburggården. The following year they moved to their stately summer house, Venstøp, outside of the city. Venstøp was a reasonably large farm with large, representative buildings. They were still relatively affluent, had servants and socialised with other members of the Skien elite.[5]

## Later years

In 1843 the Ibsen family returned to Skien, where they lived rent-free in a house owned by [Christopher Blom Paus](/source/Christopher_Blom_Paus). Knud ran a business as a broker of grain and timber and as an emigration agent, with an office at Mudringen in Skien. The revolutions of 1848 hit his grain and timber business hard. In 1850 and at the behest of his brother [Christian Cornelius Paus](/source/Christian_Cornelius_Paus) he was appointed acting [harbourmaster](/source/Harbourmaster) of Skien, an important and prestigious position in the thriving port town. The port director and the Ministry of Naval Affairs approved Ibsen's candidacy to take over the position permanently, but suddenly it came to the port director's attention that Ibsen was not to be trusted. A letter from the port director claimed that Ibsen lacked the necessary diligence, security and order, and that he had not delivered all the accounts he was supposed to. "Judge Paus, who received the letter, did not mention that he was the candidate's half-brother, but strongly denied the allegations," writes Haave. In 1851 Fredrik Vauvert was appointed instead.[5] In the 1857 tax records Knud Ibsen was listed as poor, and he was supported by his younger brothers until his death in 1877.[5]

His son Henrik left home in 1843, and never saw his parents again after 1850. In old age Knud Ibsen was conscious and proud of his son's success, commenting that "when the [Pauses](/source/Paus) are dead, they are dead, but my name will live on."[6]

## Legacy

Traditional Ibsen historiography has often claimed that Knud Ibsen went bankrupt as a result of speculation, that he became an embittered, moody, alcoholic tyrant, and asserted that this influenced his son's work. New research by [Jørgen Haave](/source/J%C3%B8rgen_Haave) has refuted such claims about Knud Ibsen and pointed out that older biographical works have uncritically repeated numerous unfounded myths about both of Ibsen's parents, and about the playwright's childhood and background in general.[5] Haave points out that Knud Ibsen's economic problems in the 1830s were mainly the result of the difficult times and something the Ibsen family had in common with many others of the bourgeoisie; Haave further argues that Henrik Ibsen had a relatively happy and comfortable childhood as members of Skien's social elite. According to Haave Henrik was pampered by his father and provoked peers with his superiority and arrogance. It was only in the late 1850s, long after Henrik had left home, that the Ibsen family disintegrated financially and socially, but even when he was officially "poor" and reliant on the support of his brothers, Knud had a maid.[5]

Knud Ibsen is regarded by numerous literary scholars as the model for several characters in his son's plays, including most famously Jon Gynt in *[Peer Gynt](/source/Peer_Gynt)*[7] and Old Ekdahl in *[The Wild Duck](/source/The_Wild_Duck)*, but also Daniel Hejre in *[The League of Youth](/source/The_League_of_Youth)*.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Henrik Ibsen did indeed confirm that he had used his own family as the model for the Gynt family, although he stated that their literary portrayal was an exaggeration.[5]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Jon Nygaard, Jon (2013). *«...af stort est du kommen»: Henrik Ibsen og Skien*. Senter for Ibsen-studier. ISBN 9788291540122.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Jørgen Haave](/source/J%C3%B8rgen_Haave) (2017). *Familien Ibsen*. Museumsforlaget/Telemark Museum. ISBN 9788283050455.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Nygaard, Jon (2014). «The Wilder the Starting Point: Some Critical Remarks to Michael Meyer's Ibsen: A Biography». Scandinavian Studies. 86 (1): 72–97. doi:10.5406/scanstud.86.1.0072.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Høgvoll, Arvid; Bærland, Ruth (1996). *Henrik Ibsen: herregårder, kammerherrer, godseiere og proprietærer : brokker av en slektshistorie*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Haave_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Haave_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Haave_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Haave_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Haave_5-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Haave_5-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Haave_5-6) [Haave, Jørgen](/source/J%C3%B8rgen_Haave) (2017). *Familien Ibsen*. Museumsforlaget/Telemark Museum. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9788283050455](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9788283050455).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Schneider, J. A. (1924). "Henrik Ibsens slegt". [*Fra det gamle Skien*](https://web.archive.org/web/20110728031319/http://www.slekt.org/books/schneiderIII/013-Kapt11.html) (in Norwegian). Vol. 3. Skien: Erik St. Nilssens Forlag. Archived from [the original](http://www.slekt.org/books/schneiderIII/013-Kapt11.html) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-06-22. Naar Paus'ene er daue, saa er de daue, men mit navn vil leve, det

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [*Survey of Articles on Ibsen: 2007, 2008*](https://web.archive.org/web/20110928203137/http://www.ibsensociety.liu.edu/ibsen_bibliography/Ibsen_Vol-2009_Survey.pdf) (PDF). The Ibsen Society of America. 2009. p. 40. Archived from [the original](http://www.ibsensociety.liu.edu/ibsen_bibliography/Ibsen_Vol-2009_Survey.pdf) (PDF) on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-06-22.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Oskar Mosfjeld, *Henrik Ibsen og Skien: en biografisk og litteratur-psykologisk studie*, Gyldendal, 1949

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** *[Edda: nordisk tidsskrift for litteraturforskning](/source/Edda._Scandinavian_Journal_of_Literary_Research)*, Vol. 56, 1956 ["I gamle Ekdals skikkelse ser dikteren på sin far, den forkomne Knud Ibsen, med et forsonende og medfølende blikk"]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Halvdan Koht](/source/Halvdan_Koht), *Henrik Ibsen: 1867-1906*, Aschehoug, 1954

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Lawrence Grolnick, "Ibsen's Truth, Family Secrets, and Family Therapy", *Family Process*, Volume 22, Issue 3, pp. 275–288, September 1983

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Bodil Nævdal, *Bak en gyllen fasade: Sigurd Ibsens brev til familien 1883-1929*, Aschehoug, 1997

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** William Amos, *The originals: who's really who in fiction*, Cape, 1985

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Hans Levander, *Tur och retur 1800-talet: litterär orientering*, Liber Förlag, 1979 ["Den sista inkarnationen av Knud Ibsen i Henrik Ibsens diktning är gamle löjtnant Ekdal i "Vildanden". Den visar att Ibsen omsider, efter faderns död, försonat sig med hans minne."]

v t e Henrik Ibsen's family Ancestors and birth relatives Grandparents Henrich Ibsen, Johanne Plesner, Johan Andreas Altenburg, Hedevig Paus, Ole Paus (step grandfather), parents Knud Ibsen and Marichen Altenburg, sister Hedvig Ibsen, uncles Christian Cornelius Paus, Henrik Johan Paus, Christopher Blom Paus, great-aunt Kristine Cathrine Ploug (née Altenburg), first cousin Ole Paus, nephew Carl Stousland, first cousin once removed Christopher de Paus, great-grandfather Cornelius Paus Wife, family-in-law and issue Wife Suzannah Ibsen (née Thoresen), step mother-in-law Magdalene Thoresen, son Sigurd Ibsen, daughter-in-law Bergliot Ibsen (née Bjørnson), grandson Tancred Ibsen, granddaughter Irene Ibsen Bille (née Ibsen), grandson's wife Lillebil Ibsen (née Krohn), great-grandsons Tancred Ibsen Jr. and Joen Bille, great-great-granddaughters Nora Ibsen and Beate Bille See also: Ibsen family – Paus family

v t e Paus family Early members Sir Hans Olufsson (ca. 1500), cleric Sir Hans Povelsson Paus the Elder (1587), cleric Sir Peder Povelsson Paus (1590), cleric Sir Povel Hansson Paus (1620), cleric Sir Povel Pedersson Paus (1625), cleric Sir Hans Povelsson Paus (1656), cleric Cornelius Povelsson Paus (1662), judge Peder Hansson Paus (1691), judge Hans Pedersson Paus (1721), judge Skien branch Cornelius Paus (1726), civil servant Hedevig Paus (1763) Ole Paus (1766), shipowner Henrik Johan Paus (1799), lawyer Christian Cornelius Paus (1800), governor Christopher Blom Paus (1810), shipowner Henrik Ibsen (1828), playwright Johan Altenborg Paus (1834), war commissioner Ole Paus (1846), industrialist Karl L. Paus (1856), industrialist Christopher Lintrup Paus CBE (1881), British diplomat Thorleif (von) Paus (1881), diplomat George Wegner Paus (1882), lawyer Hans Wangensten Paus (1891), engineer Robert Paus Platt OBE (1905), British diplomat Helvig (von) Paus (1909) Ole (von) Paus (1910), general Per Paus (1910), industrialist Thorleif Lintrup Paus (1912), diplomat Cecilie Paus (1943), shipping magnate Peder Paus (1945), businessman Ole Paus (1947), singer Pontine Paus (1973), shipping heir Olympia Paus (1976), shipping heir Marcus Paus (1979), composer of Herresta Count Christopher (de) Paus (1862), philanthropist Herman Paus (1897), skier, estate owner Countess Tatiana Tolstoy-Paus (1914) Henrik Ibsen Knud Ibsen Marichen Altenburg Sigurd Ibsen Altenburggården The Ibsen Family Paus family in fiction Peer Gynt Rosmersholm The Wild Duck Ghosts An Enemy of the People Hedda Gabler Drammen branch Bernhard Cathrinus Pauss (1839), theologian Henriette Pauss (1841), teacher Olav Pauss (1863), shipowner Nikolai Nissen Paus (1877), surgeon/humanitarian Augustin Paus (1881), industrialist Bernhard Paus (1910), surgeon/humanitarian Vilhelm Paus (1915), diplomat Brita Collett Paus (1917), humanitarian Nikolai Paus (1944), businessman Other Pauspur Paus collection (Paus Trajan) Herresta Kvesarum Castle Villa Paus Esviken Paus & Paus Ole Paus Company Wilh. Wilhelmsen

Authority control databases International VIAF National Norway

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Knud Ibsen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knud_Ibsen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knud_Ibsen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.