George Christian Thilenius (August 20, 1829 – July 7, 1910) was a German-born American politician, soldier, and businessman from the state of Missouri.
When he returned to Missouri, he moved to the city of Cape Girardeau where he entered into partnership in a general store business.
He represented the Cape Girardeau County district, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1865,[2] and was one of 61 men who signed the historic ordinance abolishing slavery in Missouri.
Thilenius also served as the Republican mayor of Cape Girardeau from 1867 to 1873 where he was instrumental in establishing the first public elementary school for the city and in bringing Southeast Missouri State Normal School (the future Southeast Missouri State University) to Cape Girardeau.
In 1873, his flour won the Medal of Merit at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair in Austria, and in 1876 it was awarded first prize at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.