Niels Otto Christensen (Landshøvding)

Niels Otto Christensen (born September 1, 1917 in Davos , Switzerland , † March 19, 2003 in Denmark ) was a Danish lawyer , civil servant , Landsfoged and Landshøvding of Greenland .

Life

In 1942 Christensen graduated from the University of Copenhagen as a lawyer. In 1945 he worked as a secretary in the Greenland administration. In 1946 he was appointed attorney in the Greenland Supreme Court . Another year later he took over the part of North Greenland from Carl Frederik Bistrup Simony (1909-1983) , which he managed until 1950. In that year the two colonies of North and South Greenland were united and Poul Hugo Lundsteen (1910–1988) became the first Landshøvding in all of Greenland. Christensen, who had served on the Greenland Commission in 1949, became head of the Landshøvdingsbüro in 1950. Christensen was interested not only in the Kalaallit who were under his care, but also in the Canadian Inuit . This was due to the fact that the Canadian geographer Trevor Lloyd (1906-1995) had invited Christensen and his wife to a longer trip to Canada in 1951, including contact with the indigenous people.

It was not until 1955 that they returned to Greenland and took on the young American economic geographer Donn Haglund (1926-2017), who was just writing his dissertation on the economic situation of Nuuk and who later became a professor at Milwaukee University . From 1955 to 1956 Christensen temporarily took over the post of Landshøvding von Lundsteen. He then became head of the Greenland Ministry in 1957 . From 1957 to 1962 he was a member of the Greenland Social Research Committee. From 1958 to 1962 he was a member of the Greenland Law Committee and from 1960 to 1962 of the Maritime and Air Rescue Council. After all, from 1962 to 1972 he was Landshøvding for a third time, which adds up to his total service time of 14 years. At 55 he was legally forced to resign.

During his tenure, on Christensen's advice, a change in the law came about that changed the seat of the board of the regional council from Landshøvding to an elected member of the regional council . Thus, in 1967 Erling Høegh (1924–1993) became its first chairman. From 1962 to 1972 he was a member of the Greenland Council of Churches. From 1963 to 1967 he was a board member of Grønlandsfly . From 1967 to 1971 he was chairman of the board of the Greenland National Museum . From 1973 he worked as a secretary in the Handelsministeriet , where he was responsible for Danish economic relations with the GDR . From 1975 to 1988 he was a board member of the Danish-Canadian Society. From 1976 to 1983 he was head of the Arctic Institute . From 1977 to 1988 he was a member of the Royal Greenland Foundation. From 1979 to 1986 he was chairman of the travel guarantee foundation. From 1981 to 1988 he was a member of the Council of the Royal Danish Geographical Society. From 1984 to 1987 he was treasurer of the order of knights. He was also chairman of the Greenlandic school board, the radio administration and the municipal supervisory board, for many years a member of the education committee, the Comité Arctique International and honorary member and corresponding governor of the Arctic Institute of North America . His interest in sport ensured that he became chairman of the Greenland Sports Confederation. In 1961 he was made a Knight of the Dannebrog Order, in 1967 a Knight 1st Class , 1972 Commander and 1987 Dannebrogmand . In 1981 he was appointed chamberlain by Queen Margrethe II . In 2001 he received the Queen Ingrid Memorial Medal.

family

Niels Otto Christensen was the son of Aage Christian Christensen (1889–1919) and his wife Esther Jerichow (1892–1985). In 1947 he married Birte Kold-Christensen (1919-2010), the daughter of Waldemar Kold-Christensen (1877-1947) and Sophie Nielsen (1891-1977). His wife was just as familiar with Greenland and often accompanied Niels Otto. She was also the queen's chamberlain.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Entry in Dansk biografisk leksikon
2. ↑ obituary of Jørgen Taagholt
3. ^ Entry in Kraks Blå Bog 1974
4. ↑ Birte Kold-Christensen, Chamberlain Fødselsdata Dødsannonce NO Christensen's biografi at arkiv.dk