Jørgen Sverdrup

Jørgen Jørgensen Sverdrup (born December 16, 1732 on Nord-Herøy, Herøy (Nordland) , † April 22, 1810 in Avaldsnes ) was a Norwegian missionary in Greenland , provost and pastor .

Life

Jørgen Sverdrup came from the important Sverdrup family. His parents were the estate manager Jørgen Andersen Sverdrup (1671-1732) and his wife Margrethe Pedersdatter Angell (1691-1779). His nephew was the politician Georg Sverdrup . He was the youngest child in his family and was born after his father's death. He grew up in humble circumstances and decided to become a pastor when he was 18. He graduated from theology in 1762.

Sent to Ilulissat as a missionary in 1764 . The catechist there had left the colony in complete chaos with false teachings and it took Jørgen Sverdrup years to gain new trust with the Greenlanders, but he was so successful that the number of 80 baptized on his arrival increased by the early 1770s Had tripled years. On October 26, 1767, he married the Greenlandic widow Marianna in Ilimanaq (around 1739–1785). On April 26, 1773 he was appointed vice provost of North Greenland . Jørgen Sverdrup noticeably improved the church and school system in Greenland. He had Greenlanders trained as missionary helpers and under his direction the Zion Church in Ilulissat was built in 1779 with the help of the population. He also translated psalms and other church texts into Greenlandic .

In 1788 he returned home and was appointed pastor in Avaldsnes. From 1792 to 1796 he was provost on Karmøy . In 1806 he was retired. He died four years later at the age of 77.

literature

• Hother Ostermann : Den norske Grønlandsprest provst Jørgen Sverdrup . Cammermeyer, Kristiania 1922.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
2. ↑ Biography in Biografisk Leksikon for Grønland
3. ↑ Biography in the store Norske Leksikon