Hans Morten Thrane Esmark (21 August 1801 - 24 April 1882) was a Norwegian priest and mineralogist. He is most noted for first locating the mineral  Thorite. Morten Thrane Esmark was born in Kongsberg in Buskerud, Norway as a son of Professor Jens Esmark, a professor of mineralogy. His given name came from his maternal grandfather Danish zoologist and mineralogist, Morten Thrane Brünnich. Esmark took his theological exam in 1825 and first began his ministry as chaplain in Eidanger, in Tromsø, Troms county, Norway. He served as a parish priest for a period in Ramnes in Jarlsberg. He later served as vicar at Brevik in Telemark.