Anders Porsanger (1735 – 10 October 1780) was a Sámi linguist and the first
Sámi
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Rus ...
who received a higher education. In 1752, he was invited to assist professor
Knud Leem
Sami noaidi with a drum used for runic divination">Sami shamanism-->Sami noaidi with a drum used for runic divination (''meavrresgárri''). Illustrations printed from copperplates by O.H. von Lode in Florence, after drawings made by Knud Leem for ...
in his efforts to create a
Sámi
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Rus ...
dictionary, all the while pursuing his studies at the
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
Cathedral School
Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools. Some of these e ...
. Porsanger continued his theological education in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and successfully completed it in 1761. In the same year, he was designated a missionary to
Varanger.
In 1764, Porsanger returned to Trondheim to provide further support to Knud Leem while concurrently serving as a hospital priest. In 1769, the College of Mission in Copenhagen summoned him to address a proposal from the Hungarian Jesuit scientist-priest
János Sajnovics
János Sajnovics de Tordas et Káloz ( Tordas, 12 May 1733 – Pest, 4 May 1785) was a Hungarian linguist and member of the Jesuit order. He is best known for his pioneering work in comparative linguistics, particularly his systematic demonstra ...
. This proposal suggested that the
Hungarian alphabet
The Hungarian alphabet () is an extension of the Latin alphabet used for writing the Hung