Jørgen Brønlund
Encyclopedia
Jørgen Brønlund was a Greenlandic
polar explorer, educator, and catechist
. He participated in two Danish expeditions to Greenland in the early 20th century.
, Greenland
, then known as Jakobshavn, on 14 December 1877. He was a childhood friend of Knud Rasmussen whose father was a priest in Jakobshavn. Trained as a teacher, Brønlund graduated in 1901 from Nuuk College and was employed as a catechist at a trading post near the Nuup Kangerlua
estuary.
, and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen
, Brønlund was a member of the 1902-1903 Danish Literary Greenland Expedition. At its conclusion, Brønlund went to Denmark. Here, he studied drawing with Kristian Zahrtmann
and taught in Askov at Denmark's largest folk high school.
An expert interpreter, one of Brønlund's responsibilities during the 1906 Danish Expedition of Northeast Greenland under Mylius-Erichsen was to keep a travel diary, and to drive the dogs. He died in November 1907 of hunger and freezing while travelling back from the Independence Fjord
and attempting to return to their base camp. He was found in a crevasse at 79-Fiord (named after the 79th latitude) on March 13, 1908 along with his diary that recounted the fate of Mylius-Erichsen and the expedition's cartographer, Niels Peter Høeg Hagen, both of whom died before Brønlund. He was buried where he was found.
's harbor quotes the diary's last lines.
Jørgen Brønlund Fjord in Peary Land
is named in his honor. The one hundred year anniversary of his birth was commemorated by the issue of a Greenlandic postal stamp.
Kalaallit
Kalaallit is the contemporary term in the Kalaallisut language for the indigenous people living in Greenland, also called the Kalaallit Nunaat. The singular term is kalaaleq. The Kalaallit are a part of the Arctic Inuit people. The language spoken by Inuit in Greenland is Kalaallisut.Historically,...
polar explorer, educator, and catechist
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
. He participated in two Danish expeditions to Greenland in the early 20th century.
Early years
Brønlund, an inuit and the son of a hunter, was born in IlulissatIlulissat
Ilulissat is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,546 as of 2010, it is the third-largest settlement in Greenland, after Nuuk and Sisimiut....
, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, then known as Jakobshavn, on 14 December 1877. He was a childhood friend of Knud Rasmussen whose father was a priest in Jakobshavn. Trained as a teacher, Brønlund graduated in 1901 from Nuuk College and was employed as a catechist at a trading post near the Nuup Kangerlua
Nuup Kangerlua
Nuup Kangerlua is a long, fjord in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. It is the longest fjord on the Labrador Sea coast of Greenland, and one of the longest in the inhabited part of the country....
estuary.
Career
Along with Rasmussen, Harald MoltkeHarald Moltke
Harald Moltke was a Danish painter and author, who was educated on The Royal Danish Academy of Art 1889–1893. Moltke participated in several expeditions as draughtsman, for instance to Greenland in 1898 and 1902–04...
, and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen
Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen
Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen was a Danish author, ethnologist, and explorer, from Ringkøbing. He was most notably an explorer of Greenland. With Count Harald Moltke and Knud Rasmussen he formed the Danish Literary expedition to West Greenland, and in the early stages discovered near Evigheds Fiord two...
, Brønlund was a member of the 1902-1903 Danish Literary Greenland Expedition. At its conclusion, Brønlund went to Denmark. Here, he studied drawing with Kristian Zahrtmann
Kristian Zahrtmann
Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, was a Danish painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and Theodor Esbern Philipsen, who broke away from both the strictures of traditional Academicism and the...
and taught in Askov at Denmark's largest folk high school.
An expert interpreter, one of Brønlund's responsibilities during the 1906 Danish Expedition of Northeast Greenland under Mylius-Erichsen was to keep a travel diary, and to drive the dogs. He died in November 1907 of hunger and freezing while travelling back from the Independence Fjord
Independence Fjord
Independence Fjord is a large fjord in the eastern part of northern Greenland. It is about long and up to wide. Its mouth, opening to Wandel Sea of the Arctic Ocean is located at...
and attempting to return to their base camp. He was found in a crevasse at 79-Fiord (named after the 79th latitude) on March 13, 1908 along with his diary that recounted the fate of Mylius-Erichsen and the expedition's cartographer, Niels Peter Høeg Hagen, both of whom died before Brønlund. He was buried where he was found.
Legacy
The 172 page diary is archived at the Royal Danish Library. A memorial stone erected in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
's harbor quotes the diary's last lines.
Jørgen Brønlund Fjord in Peary Land
Peary Land
Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland's mainland, and Cape...
is named in his honor. The one hundred year anniversary of his birth was commemorated by the issue of a Greenlandic postal stamp.