Christian Cornelius Paus (18 October 1800 – 8 April 1879) was a Norwegian lawyer, civil servant and politician.

He also served three times as Governor of Bratsberg (now Telemark county) between 1862 and 1869 and three terms as a Member of the Norwegian Parliament between 1848 and 1861.

[1] He was the uncle of playwright Henrik Ibsen and the inspiration for the character of Peter Stockmann in the play An Enemy of the People.

He was employed in the Norwegian central government at the Ministry of the Navy from 1822 to 1836, as a senior adviser from 1826.

He was bailiff in Lista in Lister og Mandal county from 1836 until he was appointed as city judge (byfogd) in Skien in 1847.