Cornelius Bernhard Hanssen worked as a teacher in 1883-1891. He then became editor and publisher of a local newspaper Agder. In 1898 he entered the shipping business and later became a wealthy shipowner.

Hanssen was a member of the Storting in 1900-1915 and 1919-1921. As a politician, he was strongly engaged in the peace movement. In 1895 he was one of the founders of the Norwegian Peace Association (Norges Fredsforening) and was involved when the Nordic Peace Union (Den Nordiske Fredsunion) was established in 1917. He edited and published The Norwegian Peace Magazine in 1894-1899 and was a member of the board of The Norwegian Parliament's Peace Association (Stortingets Fredsforening). He was a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the period 1913-1939.

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