 paus (earlier spellings include pauss and de paus) is a norwegian patrician family that first appeared in oslo in the 16th century. according to s.h. finne-grÃ¸nn, it is most likely descended in the male line from hans olufsson (ca. 1500â18 september 1570), a member of the royal clergy in norway before and after the reformation, who served as a canon at st mary's church. he was according to finne-grÃ¸nn probably the grandfather of the brothers hans paus (1587â1648) and peder paus (1590â1653), who were born in oslo and who both became priests, and who have long been known as the family's earliest certain ancestors. parish priest in fredrikstad hans paus (1587â1648) only had a limited number of descendants, whereas parish priest in kviteseid and provost of upper telemark peder paus (1590â1653) has a large number of descendants until the present day. from the 17th to the 19th century, the family were among the foremost of the "aristocracy of officials" in upper telemark,jon nygaard (2013). "...af stort est du kommen." henrik ibsen og skien (p. 68 and p. 74). senter for ibsen-studier. isbn 9788291540122 where many family members served as priests, judges and other officials and where several offices in practice were hereditary in the family for extended periods. since the 19th century, several family members have been merchants, ship-owners, industrialists and estate owners. members of the family have founded several enterprises in norway, including the former industrial company paus & paus. papal chamberlain and estate owner christopher tostrup paus, heir to a timber fortune, was conferred the title and rank of count by pope pius xi in 1923. since 1914, members of the family have owned several estates in sweden, of which the estate herresta is still owned by the family. among the famous descendants of the family are playwright henrik ibsen (through both his maternal grandmother hedevig paus and his father's step-father [[ole 
Italian_noble_families Nobility_of_the_Holy_See Norwegian_families Patriciate_of_Norway Paus_family Swedish_unintroduced_nobility