John Knauf (April 5, 1868 – September 19, 1952) was an American judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of North Dakota in 1906.

When he was young, his parents died and along with his brothers and sisters he moved to Stutsman County, North Dakota, in 1883.

For higher education, he spent one year at Jamestown College and one year at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, before enrolling at the University of Michigan School of Law where he received a law degree in 1892.

[1] In 1906, a 38-year-old Knauf was appointed to the North Dakota Supreme Court, filling the seat vacated by the retirement of Newton C. Young.

[1] After leaving the Supreme Court, Knauf returned to private legal practice in Jamestown.