Jonathan Motzfeldt

Jonathan Motzfeldt (2003)

Jonathan "Juntaaq" Jacob Jørgen Otto Motzfeldt (born September 25, 1938 in Qassimiut , † October 28, 2010 in Nuuk ) was a Greenlandic politician ( Siumut ) and pastor . After the introduction of autonomy, he was the country's first prime minister from 1979 to 1991 . From 1997 to 2002 he was again head of government. He is one of the most influential figures in the recent history of Greenland .

Life

family

Jonathan Motzfeldt was the son of the hunter Søren Gudmund Theophilus Motzfeldt (1902–1984) and his wife Kirsten Klementine Sofie Klemmensen (1904–1979). On December 18, 1965, he married the Danish Margit Koch Petersen (* 1945), daughter of Hans Petersen (1905–?) And Ellen Margrethe Jørgensen (1912–?) In Copenhagen . The marriage was later divorced. On August 9, 1992, he married the Icelandic Kristjana Guðrún Guðmundsdóttir (* 1951), daughter of Guðmundur Kristjánsson (1917–1980) and Hanna Lillý Isaksen (1916–2007). The handball player Hans Peter Motzfeldt-Kyed is his nephew.

Education and career as a pastor

He graduated from Grønland's seminarium in 1960 . He then studied theology at the University of Copenhagen until 1966 . In the same year he was installed as a pastor in Alluitsup Paa . In 1969 he moved to Qaqortoq , where he remained in office until 1979.

Career in the National Council

During his studies he was a member of the student council in Copenhagen from 1962 to 1963 . From 1962 to 1964 he was also chairman of the Kalâtdlit Greenlander Association . From 1971 Jonathan Motzfeldt got involved with Lars Emil Johansen and Moses Olsen in the left-wing self-employment movement Sujumut . In the same year he stood up for the election to Grønlands Landsråd and was elected. From then on he was also a member of Grønlandsråd . In 1973 he became a member of the Hjemmestyreudvalg , which was supposed to formulate the Greenlandic wishes for autonomy. In 1975 he was re-elected to the Provincial Council, appointed Vice Chairman of the Provincial Council and became a member of the Hjemmestyre Commission . In 1977, the Siumut party emerged from the Sujumut self-employment movement and Jonathan Motzfeldt was elected party chairman, which he remained until 1987 with small initial interruptions.

First period as Prime Minister

In 1979, the Hjemmestyre was introduced in Greenland , which gave Greenland autonomy for the first time. Jonathan Motzfeldt is seen as one of the most important forces in this process. In the first election to Inatsisartut , he was appointed Prime Minister. He was re-elected in 1983, 1984 and 1987. He was also President of Parliament from 1979 to 1988. In 1987 he was voted out of office as party chairman and replaced by Lars Emil Johansen. In the following year he gave the office of parliamentary president to Lars Chemnitz , because it was desired that this would not also be exercised by the prime minister. In 1991 he also lost the office of Prime Minister to his party colleague Lars Emil Johansen.

Second period as prime minister

In 1997 he was once again President of Parliament for a short time before he took over the post of Prime Minister again from Lars Emil Johansen, who had resigned voluntarily, in the same year. In 1998 he was again party chairman. In 1999 he was re-elected as Prime Minister.

Next life

Jonathan Motzfeldt (2008)

In 2002 he was replaced as party leader by the hitherto relatively unknown Hans Enoksen , who also became prime minister in the same year. Instead, Jonathan Motzfeldt was again President of Parliament. In 2006 he became a member of the Selvstyrekommission , which was supposed to prepare the Selvstyre of 2009, which gave Greenland even more autonomy. In 2008, he resigned from the post of President of Parliament when he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his home. In the following year he was not re-elected to the Inatsisartut. He left parliament after 38 years of uninterrupted membership in the regional council and Inatsisartut.

Motzfeldt died on October 28, 2010 at the age of 72 in Nuuk from a cerebral haemorrhage, after suffering from cancer for a long time and was most recently hospitalized for pneumonia.

Trivia

Jonathan Motzfeldt was due to attend a committee meeting on October 25, 1973, but Lars Emil Johansen offered to represent. Ultimately, he decided to be present at the meeting and canceled his flight ticket. The helicopter crashed that day , killing all 15 occupants, including his colleagues Johan Knudsen and Jørgen Poulsen .

Honors

Jonathan Motzfeldt was the most decorated Greenlander of all time. From 1978 he was knight of the Dannebrog Order and from 2003 commander of the 1st degree . On May 1, 1989 he received the Nersornaat in gold. He was also the bearer of the Great Federal Cross of Merit with a Star , Commander of the Swedish Order of the North Star, Commander with a Star of the Norwegian Order of Merit and the Icelandic Order of the Falcon, as well as the Order of the Belgian Crown . He also received an honorary doctorate in political science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks .

See also

• Cabinet Motzfeldt I
• Cabinet Motzfeldt II
• Cabinet Motzfeldt III
• Cabinet Motzfeldt IV
• Cabinet Motzfeldt V
• Cabinet Motzfeldt VI
• Cabinet Motzfeldt VII
• Cabinet Motzfeldt VIII

literature

• Jørgen Fleischer , Hansepâjuk Gabrielsen : Jonathan Motzfeldt 50 . Pilersuiffik, Nuuk 1988, ISBN 978-87-585-0333-2 .
• Peter Frederik Rosing : Jonathan Motzfeldt - bygdedrengen, præsten, landsfaderen og statsmanden . Sohn, Køge 2008, ISBN 978-87-91959-27-1 .
• Jakob Janussen, Lars Vesterbirk, Per Danker, Einar Lemcke: Juntaaq . Danker & Danker Fabrications, 2018, ISBN 978-87-91217-17-3 .

Web links

Commons : Jonathan Motzfeldt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
• Biography in Den Store Danske
• Biography in the store Norske Leksikon
• Gravestone at gravsted.dk

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Church registers Qaqortoq 1916–1927 (married p. 146)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} biography in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
3. ↑ obituary for Lilly Kristjánsson in Morgunblaðið
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Torben Lodberg : Grønlands Grønne Bog 2001/02 . Ed .: Grønlands hjemmestyres informationkontor. Copenhagen 2001, ISBN 978-87-89685-16-8 , pp. 92 f .
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Jonathan Motzfeldt . In: Mark Nuttall (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Arctic . Routledge, New York / London 2005, ISBN 978-1-136-78680-8 , pp. 1323 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
6. ↑ Biography in Den Store Danske
7. ^ Motzfeldt går af efter sex scandals in Ekstra Bladet
8. ↑ Motzfeldt scandal, he dømt ude in Politiken
9. ↑ Jonathan Motzfeldt he død in Sermitsiaq
10. ↑ Landsrådets næstformand afbestilte plads i flyet in the Atuagagdliutit of November 8, 1973
11. ↑ January René Westh: Ordenshistorisk Tidsskrift . Ed .: Ordenshistorisk Selskab . tape 36 , December 2010, ISSN  0904-5554 , p. 65 f .
12. ↑ Om Jonathan Motzfeldt in the Tidsskriftet Grønland (2011/1)