KNUT HAMSUN'S FAMILY

Knut Hamsun's paternal grandfather and grandmother: Peder Olsen Skultbakken (b. 1789, d. 1858) and Ymbjørg Knutsdatter Kleppeie (b. 1793, d. 1868). They had six children. The third in line,

Peder Pedersen (b. 28.3.1824, d. 17.3.1907), was Knut Hamsun's father.

Knut Hamsun's maternal grandfather and grandmother: Ole Pedersen (baptized in 1800) took over the farm Garmostrædet in Lom, Gudbrandsdalen, in 1816. Married to Mari (baptized in 1799). They had three children:

1. Ole (b. 23.3.1825, d. 11.5.1869), often called Vetletræin, i.e. Garmostrædet jr. (the father was called Gammeltræin)

2. Hans (born 27.10.1827, died 11.2.1890)

3. Tora (also called Torø) (b. 11.1.1830, d. 6.1.1919) was Knut Hamsun's mother.

Knut Hamsun's parents: Tora and Peder Pedersen married on October 14, 1852. They had seven children (the first child a year and a half before they married):

1. Petter Pedersen (b. 10.4. 1851, d. 1918)

2. Ole Pedersen (b. 5.5. 1854, d. 28.11. 1944)

3. Hans Pedersen (b. 24.10.1856, d. 16.7.1935)

4. Knud Pedersen (Knut Hamsun) (b. 4.8.1859, d. 19.2.1952)

5. Anne Marie Pedersen (b. 22.3.1862, d. 29.2.1888)

6. Sophie Marie Pedersen (b. 17.8.1864, d. 30.1.1890)

7. Peder Thorvald Pedersen (b. 14.6.1868, d. 10.10.1941) *

Knut Hamsun married for the first time on 16.5.1898 to Bergljot Bassøe Beck (b. 17.4.1873, d. 13.4.1943). They were divorced on 20.4.1906. They had one daughter:
Victoria Hamsun (b. 15.8.1902, d. 1980)

Knut Hamsun married for the second time on 25.6.1909 to Marie Andersen (b. 19.11.1881, d. 5.8.1969). They had four children:

1. Tore Hamsun (b. 6.3.1912, d. 10.1.1995)

2. Arild Hamsun (b. 3.5.1914, d. 16.3.1988)

3. Ellinor Hamsun (b. 23.10.1915, d. 27.8.1987)

4. Cecilia Hamsun (b. 13.5.1917, d. 1985)

Knut and Marie Hamsun with three grandchildren in the garden at Nørholm.

The information about Knut Hamsun's family has been compiled by Kirsten Hedvig Rasmussen, edited by Gro Roksand.

Published July 6, 2010

Hamsun's family: The siblings

Petter Pedersen (b. 10.4. 1851, d. 1918). Emigrated to America in 1867, married 8.12.1872 to
The Queen of Aasne.

Notes:
Petter Pedersen was born in Gudbrandsdalen. He died on April 5, 1918.
Aasne Drotning was born in the United States on October 10, 1849, the daughter of Norwegian immigrants. She died
20.1.1929. 

Petter and Aasne had two children, who grew up:
Elmer Theodore Peterson (b. 14.5.1876, d. 14.10.1954)
Elizabeth Turene Peterson, married Johnson (b. 1.8.1882, d. 25.5.1970)

When Petter died in Dane, Wisconsin in 1918, the local press reported that he was a tailor.
by profession and is survived by his wife and two children, son Elmer and daughter Elizabeth.
Petter and Aasne apparently had several children, who died early:

In the 1890 census it is listed that Aasne had 5 children, of whom 2 were alive (Elmer and
Elizabeth). 

Upon Aasne's death in 1929, the local press (The Stoughton Courier-Hub) reported that
"Survivors are two children, Elmer Hamsun of Madison and Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson of
Stoughton, with whom she made her home. Three children preceded her in death.”
Alfred Peterson, born in 1879 or 1880, was one of the children who died early according to the census in
1880. 

Information about the siblings updated by Svein Abrahamsen and published September 2025