Cornelius Bernhard Hanssen

Who was Cornelius Bernhard Hanssen?

Cornelius Bernhard Hanssen was a Norwegian teacher, shipowner and politician for the Liberal Party.

He was born in Feda as a son of a farmer, and younger brother of politician Anders Kristian Rørvik. He graduated from teacher's seminary in Christianssand in 1883, worked as a teacher from 1883 to 1891, when he bought the newspaper Agder and started as editor-in-chief. He started as a shipowner in 1898. He was a board member of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association and a supervisory council member of Den Norske Amerikalinje. From 1917 to 1936 he was managing director of the hotel Holmenkollen Turisthotel.

He served as a member of the Parliament of Norway for the constituency Flekkefjord from 1900 to 1915 and from 1919 to 1921. He was elected three times for the Liberal Party and then twice for the Liberal Left Party. He also served as a deputy representative during the terms 1922–1924 and 1925 to 1927. He was elected as a member of Flekkefjord city council in 1931, and was mayor of Flekkefjord in the years 1933, 1936 and 1937.

He was co-founder of the Norwegian Peace Association in 1895, and became an honorary member.