Samuel Kleinschmidt
Samuel Petrus Kleinschmidt (born February 27, 1814 in Alluitsoq / Greenland ; † February 8, 1886 in Neu-Herrnhut / Greenland) was a German missionary of the Moravian Brethren and the founder of modern Greenlandic as a written language .
Youth and education
Samuel Kleinschmidt was born in Greenland as the son of the German missionary Konrad Kleinschmidt and his Danish wife Christina Petersen. He received extensive schooling in the Kleinwelka branch in Saxony and initially became a pharmacist because of a language problem. After intensive language training, he overcame his handicap and was employed as a geography teacher in the North Schleswig community of Christiansfeld . He completed the missionary training that had started at the same time in 1841.
Work and language research in Greenland
After his training, Kleinschmidt returned to Greenland and became an assistant to the Moravian Brethren in Alluitsoq (German: Lichtenau ). From 1846 to 1848 he was a teacher in Akunnat (German: Lichtenfels ), then in Neu-Herrnhut. In 1859 there was a break with the Brethren and he went to serve the Danish mission in Nuuk .
With his main work "Grammar of the Greenlandic language with partial inclusion of the Labradordialect" (work completed in 1846, printed in Berlin 1851), Kleinschmidt is considered the founder of a uniform written language in Greenland. There are also works on zoology, history and geography as well as translations from the Old and New Testaments into Greenlandic. He was a promoter of the Greenlandic language and culture and a publicist in the newspaper Atuagagdliutit (founded in 1861). In 1871 Kleinschmidt's large dictionary on the Greenlandic language was published in Copenhagen (co-author: Vittus Steenholdt ).
Honors
Kleinschmidt is buried in Greenland's capital Nuuk (Danish: Godthåb ), where a plaque with Greenlandic and Danish inscriptions in the city center is dedicated to him, above which "Kleinschmidts Pæl" ( Kleinschmidts stake ) rises.
Kleinschmidt was honored during his lifetime for his services to Greenlandic culture and society: He was awarded the Dannebrog Order in 1882 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin. In 1986 the Royal Danish and Greenland Post issued a 35-ore special stamp with his portrait.
literature
- Henrik Wilhjelm: Greenlanders out of passion: The life and work of Samuel Kleinschmidt (= missiological research, new series . Volume 30 ). Erlanger Verlag for Mission and Ecumenism, Neuendettelsau 2013, ISBN 978-3-87214-360-0 .
- Paul Karmrodt: Two bailiwick scientists in Greenland . In: Mühlhauser contributions . Booklet 11. Mühlhäuser Druckhaus, Mühlhausen / Thuringia 1988, p. 89-92 .
- Samuel Kleinschmidt . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 9 : Jyde – Køtschau . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1895, p. 218 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Samuel Kleinschmidt in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ German translation: The internationally renowned scientist, teacher and friend of the Greenlanders used to hang a lantern at this point in order to have a light signal on the way between Ny Herrnhut and Godthaab.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kleinschmidt, Samuel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kleinschmidt, Samuel Petrus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Greenlandic linguist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 27, 1814 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lichtenau , Greenland |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 8, 1886 |
| Place of death | New Herrnhut , Greenland |