Thorleif Paus

Thorleif Paus (8 October 1881 – 9 June 1976), also known as Thorleif de Paus, was a Norwegian businessman, consul-general in Vienna and estate owner.

Background and family

A member of the patrician Paus family, he was a son of the steel industrialist and banker Ole Paus and Birgitte Halvordine Schou, and grew up at Bygdøy in 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 Ella Stein (1883–1971), who belonged to a bourgeois Viennese family of Jewish origin. 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 (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, was promoted to first lieutenant in 1909, and later became a captain of the cavalry (rittmester). He served as a consular secretary and commercial attaché at the Swedish-Norwegian and subsequently at the Norwegian Consulate-General in Vienna 1902–1910, and as Norwegian honorary Vice Consul, Consul and Consul-General between 1910 and 1918. He also served as an honorary Danish and Swedish Consul during the same period. From 1906 to 1918, he operated his own business as an agent in Vienna, representing large Norwegian industrial companies, mainly Norsk Hydro, in Austria-Hungary. After returning to Norway, he continued the business as Thorleif Paus A/S in Oslo, and became owner of two factories in Ålesund. In 1936, he became owner of Kvesarum Castle in Scania, Sweden, where he lived for many years. He also inherited Magleås outside Copenhagen from his relative, count Christopher (de) Paus in 1943, but sold the property to the Catholic Church in Denmark a few years later.

In Austria-Hungary, his name was officially and usually spelled Thorleif de Paus or alternately Thorleif von Paus (commonly abbreviated to v. Paus). In Austria-Hungary, he received the Order of the Iron Crown, which previously conferred automatic ennoblement.

Honours

• Order of Saint John of Prussia
• Order of the Iron Crown of Austria
• Order of Franz Joseph of Austria