Knud Ibsen

Who was Knud Ibsen?

Knud Plesner Ibsen was the father of playwright Henrik Ibsen, and is widely considered the model for many central characters in his son's plays, including most famously Jon Gynt in Peer Gynt and Old Ekdahl in The Wild Duck, but also Daniel Hejre in The League of Youth.

Once a rich merchant in Skien with a lavish lifestyle, Knud Ibsen went bankrupt, an experience which made him an embittered and moody man, and which profoundly influenced his son's work. Knud Ibsen had, like the character Old Ekdahl, also been a lieutenant and a huntsman in his youth.

Knud Ibsen was the son of ship's captain Henrich Ibsen and Johanne Plesner; his paternal great-grandfather had immigrated from Denmark to Norway in 1726; the family's earliest known ancestor was Rasmus Ibsen from Stege, Denmark. His father died at sea in 1797, and the following year, Johanne married Ole Paus, a ship-owner, and he grew up on the Paus family estate Rising. He was the elder half-brother of lawyer and member of parliament Christian Cornelius Paus and ship-owner and banker Christopher Blom Paus. He married Marichen Cornelia Martine Altenburg, daughter of wealthy merchant Johan Andreas Altenburg and Hedvig Paus; they had known each other since childhood.