Thorleif Paus

{{Short description|Norwegian diplomat, estate owner and businessman}} {{Infobox person | name = Thorleif Paus | image =  | alt =  | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|10|8}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|6|9|1881|10|8}} | death_place = | occupation = Army officer, consul-general, businessman, estate owner }} '''Thorleif Paus''' ({{IPA|no|ˈtʊ̀lːæɪf ˈpæʉs|pron}}; 8 October 1881 – 9 June 1976), also known as '''Thorleif de Paus''' or '''Thorleif von Paus''', was a Norwegian diplomat, estate owner and businessman. As a 23 year old consular secretary he became Norway's only diplomatic representative to the great power of [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1905 and in charge of obtaining diplomatic recognition of Norway following the [[dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden]]; he later served as consul and acting [[consul-general]] in Vienna. Paus left Austria-Hungary in 1918 and later became a businessman in Norway, an estate owner in Sweden, where he owned [[Kvesarum Castle]], and finally moved to [[Copenhagen]].<ref>[https://runeberg.org/vemarvem/skane48/0440.html "Paus, Thorleif,"] in ''Vem är Vem?; Skåne'' [Who's Who; Scania], 1948, p. 440</ref><ref>Alf Petersen, "Paus, Thorleif," in ''Den norske hærs vernepliktige officerer : 1864–1933'', Hanche, 1936, p. 447</ref>

==Background and family==

A member of the [[Paus family]], he was a son of the steel industrialist and banker [[Ole Paus (businessman)|Ole Paus]] and Birgitte Halvordine [[Schou (Norwegian family)|Schou]], and grew up in Christiania (now Oslo). His father was a first cousin of [[Henrik Ibsen]], whereas his mother was a first cousin of the industrialist [[Halvor Schou]]. Prime Minister [[Sigurd Ibsen]] was Thorleif Paus' second cousin. He was the brother of the businessman Christopher Blom Paus (1878–1959) and the brother-in-law of the historian of nobility [[Otto von Munthe af Morgenstierne]]. His nephew was the steel industrialist Per Paus, who was married to Hedevig [[Wedel-Jarlsberg]].

In his first marriage, he was married to Gabriele (Ella) Stein (1883–1971), the daughter of the Viennese lawyer August Stein (1852–1890). August Stein left the [[Jewish Community of Vienna]] in 1877<ref>{{cite book |last1=Staudacher |first1=Anna |title=‘... meldet den Austritt aus dem mosaischen Glauben’: 18000 Austritte aus dem Judentum in Wien, 1868–1914: Namen – Quellen – Daten |date=2009 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=9783631558324 |page=8 |quote=Stein, Dr.jur. August (...)}}</ref> and he and his children were baptized as Catholics in 1885/86. In his second marriage, he was married to the former countess Ella [[Moltke]], née Glückstadt (born 1899 in Copenhagen), a daughter of the prominent Danish Jewish businessman [[Valdemar Glückstadt]] and widow of count Erik Moltke of Nør. In his first marriage, he was the father of Helvig Paus (born 1909 in Vienna) and Major-General [[Ole Paus (general)|Ole Paus]] (born 1910 in Vienna). In his second marriage, he had a stepson, count Erik Moltke. He was the grandfather of the troubadour [[Ole Paus]] and the great-grandfather of the composer [[Marcus Paus]].

==Career==

He graduated from the [[Norwegian Military Academy]] and became a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[cavalry]] in 1902; he was promoted to [[first lieutenant]] in 1909. From 1902 he served as a consular secretary (deputy [[head of mission]]) at the Swedish-Norwegian consulate general in Vienna. The industrialist [[Carl Neufeldt]] was honorary consul-general, but usually absent, and in practice the consulate-general was led by Paus.

Following the [[dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden]] the consulate-general in practice became the Norwegian diplomatic mission to Austria-Hungary, and Paus was tasked with obtaining diplomatic recognition of Norway as Norway's only representative in the country. At the time Paus was 23 years old and officially employed as a consular secretary. The Austrian newspaper ''Die Zeit'' noted that "Lieutenant Thorleif v. Paus manages the consulate's business. Rarely has a young diplomat found himself in such a responsible position as Mr. v. Paus, who will in a short time have to obtain recognition of his country from the Vienna government."<ref name="zeit">"[http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=zei&datum=19050610&seite=3 Die Vertretung Schweden-Norwegens in Wien]," ''Die Zeit'', 10 June 1905, p. 3</ref> The newspaper expected him to become head of a new legation, but Norway chose to appoint [[Thor von Ditten]] as [[Diplomatic rank#Historical ranks, 1815–1961|minister]] to Berlin with [[dual accreditation|secondary accreditations]] to multiple countries including Italy and Austria-Hungary from 1906. Paus later served as [[attaché|commercial attaché]] and from 1910 to 1917 formally as vice consul and oftentimes acting consul-general. As such he was the highest-ranking representative of Norway residing in Austria-Hungary.

From 1906 to 1918, Paus operated his own business as an [[law of agency|agent]] in Vienna, representing large Norwegian industrial companies, mainly [[Norsk Hydro]], in Austria-Hungary. As consul he became the only Scandinavian to witness the [[assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria]] in [[Sarajevo]] in 1914.<ref name="Jacobsen" />

[[File:Kvesarums slott april 2018 1.jpg|thumb|Kvesarum Castle]] He returned to Norway in 1918 and continued his business as Thorleif Paus A/S in Oslo. He also became the owner of two factories in [[Ålesund]]. He lived in [[Scania]], [[Sweden]] from 1935 to 1964, where he owned [[Kvesarum Castle]] from 1936 and the large estate Ejratal from 1948. He also inherited the manor house [[Magleås]] outside Copenhagen from his relative, count [[Christopher de Paus|Christopher (de) Paus]] in 1943, but sold the property to the Catholic Church in Denmark a few years later. During the [[Second World War]] he received many Norwegian refugees at his castle Kvesarum, and there was built a Norwegian refugee camp near the castle. He moved to Copenhagen in 1964.<ref name="Aftenposten1971">"[https://beta.nb.no/items/a3ed08e8a0bb617db17d1b1b2e740114;page=9 90 år: Tidligere konsul i Wien, Thorleif Paus]," ''[[Aftenposten]]'', 8 October 1971, p. 10</ref><ref name="Jacobsen">Palle Koster Jacobsen: "[https://beta.nb.no/items/ee066467d67a1686d69933fd4beb6e1c;page=3 Han så erkehertugen dø ...]," ''[[Fædrelandsvennen]]'', 14 December 1968, p. 4</ref>

In Austria-Hungary, his name was usually and officially spelled ''Thorleif von Paus'' (commonly abbreviated to ''v. Paus'').<ref>E.g. ''Verordnungsblatt des K. K. Justizministeriums'', vol. 24, 1908, p. 8 and p. 12, and vol. 33, 1917 p. 46 and 47, K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, and ''High-Life-Almanach: Adressbuch der Gesellschaft Wiens und der österreichischen Kronländer'', vol. 9 p. 253, 1913</ref> He also sometimes used the spelling ''Thorleif de Paus''.<ref>E.g. ''Mitteilungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Geographischen Gesellschaft'', vol. 52 p. 615, 1909, and vol. 59, 1916, p. 310</ref> The spelling ''von Paus'' was regarded as a rendering of the name in a German/Austro-Hungarian linguistic and cultural context, and not a native form of the name, which he continued to spell simply as Thorleif Paus within Scandinavia. In Austria-Hungary, he received the [[Order of the Iron Crown (Austria)|Order of the Iron Crown]], one of the country's highest orders and which previously conferred automatic ennoblement.

==Honours== *[[Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)|Order of Saint John of Prussia]] *[[Order of the Iron Crown (Austria)|Order of the Iron Crown of Austria]] *[[Order of Franz Joseph|Order of Franz Joseph of Austria]]

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paus, Thorleif}} [[Category:20th-century Norwegian businesspeople]] [[Category:Norwegian diplomats]] [[Category:Norwegian expatriates in Austria]] [[Category:Swedish landowners]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Franz Joseph]] [[Category:Paus family|Thorleif]] [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1976 deaths]] [[Category:Norwegian Military Academy alumni]] [[Category:20th-century landowners]]