Jakob Olsen
Jakob "Jâkúnguaĸ" Peter Jonas Olsen (born November 22, 1890 in Sisimiut ; † July 10, 1936 in Nuuk ) was a Greenlandic catechist , interpreter and expedition member .
Life
Jakob Olsen was the son of Tomas Kristoffer Samuel Olsen (1843-1919) and Johanne Gjertrud Kirsten Inger Johansen (1854-1911). The missionary Gustav Olsen (1878–1950) was one of his brothers . Jakob Olsen attended Grønland's seminary , which he completed in 1912. In the same year he married Hansine Rosine Kirsten Lynge (1886–1941), daughter of the cooper Lars Christian Rasmus Vittus Lynge (1855–1928) and his wife Vitta Pouline Ane Elisabeth Margrethe Elberg (1860–1930) and widow of the artist Stephen Møller (1882 -1909).
He was employed as a catechist in Saqqaq and later moved to Ujarasussuk . Knud Rasmussen knew him as a capable dog sled and kayak driver and took him on the Fifth Thule Expedition in 1921 . He was the hunter, dog sled driver and interpreter of the expedition. Together with Kaj Birket-Smith he visited the Tununirmiut west of Hudson Bay and Therkel Mathiassen , with whom he excavated in Naujaat and visited Southampton Island , saved him from a murder plot. He learned Inuktitut on the expedition and tried to proselytize the pagan Inuit . In 1923 he traveled back to Greenland via the USA and Denmark. In 1924 he received the Fortjenstmedaljen in silver. In 1925 he was appointed interpreter and boat captain for the South Greenlandic Landsfoged Knud Oldendow . From 1927 to 1928 he was in Denmark to help Knud Rasmussen evaluate the results of the expedition. In 1927 he wrote the book Akilinerminulerssârut , which was the first book of findings from the expedition and the first Greenlandic book about other Inuit peoples, called akilinermiut by Greenlanders, i.e. the inhabitants of the country on the other side of the sea . Jakob Olsen died in Nuuk in 1936 at the age of 45.
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Olsen, Jakob |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Olsen, Jakob Peter Jonas (full name); Jâkúnguaĸ (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Greenlandic catechist, interpreter and expedition participant |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 22, 1890 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sisimiut |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 10, 1936 |
| Place of death | Nuuk |