Johan Carl Christian Petersen (28 June 1813 – 24 June 1880) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

and interpreter who participated in several expeditions in Northern Canada and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

in search of the missing British explorer

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through ...

Early life

Petersen was born 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 ...

. At the age of about 20 he moved to Godhavn (now Qeqertarsuaq) in

where he made a living as a carpenter and sailor. In 1841 he moved to

Upernavik Upernavik (Kalaallisut: "Springtime Place") is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,092 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It c ...

, at the time the most northern Danish colony in Greenland. There he married a

Greenlandic Inuit Greenlanders ( kl, Kalaallit / Tunumiit / Inughuit; da, Grønlændere) are people identified with Greenland or the indigenous people, the Greenlandic Inuit (''Grønlansk Inuit''; Kalaallit, Inughuit, and Tunumiit). This connection may be res ...

woman and adopted their customs and way of living, in the process he became a quite skilled hunter, dog sledge driver, and observer.

Exploration

He worked on

William Penny Captain William Penny (1809–1892) was a Scottish shipmaster, whaler and Arctic explorer. He undertook the first maritime search for the ships of Sir John Franklin. In 1840, Penny established the first whaling station in the Cumberland Sound a ...

's Expedition (1850–51),

Elisha Kane Elisha Kent Kane (February 3, 1820 – February 16, 1857) was a United States Navy medical officer and Arctic explorer. He served as assistant surgeon during Caleb Cushing's journey to China to negotiate the Treaty of Wangxia and in the Af ...

's Second Grinnell Expedition (1853–1855) into

Kane Basin Kane Basin ( da, Kane Bassin; french: Bassin (de) Kane) is an Arctic waterway lying between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It links Smith Sound to Kennedy Channel and forms part of Nares Strait. It is approximatel ...

Francis Leopold McClintock Sir Francis Leopold McClintock (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. He confirmed explorer John Rae's controversial report gather ...

Expedition (1857) and

Isaac Israel Hayes Isaac Israel Hayes (March 5, 1832 – December 17, 1881) was an American Arctic explorer, physician, and politician, who was appointed as the commanding officer at Satterlee General Hospital during the American Civil War, and was then elected, ...

North Pole Expedition (1860–61). He wrote two books about these expeditions. On Kane's expedition he worked together with the young Inuit

Hans Hendrik Hans Hendrik ( kl, Suersaq, i=no; 2 June 1832 – 11 August 1889) was a Kalaallit interpreter, Arctic explorer, and the first Inuk to publish an account of his travels. He was born in the southern settlement of Fiskenæsset. Expeditions ...

, for whom

Hans Island Hans Island ( Inuktitut and kl, Tartupaluk, ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; da, Hans Ø; french: Île Hans) is an island in the very centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait in the high Arctic region, split between the Canadian territory of ...

was named.

Death

After these expeditions, Petersen moved back to Denmark and died in Copenhagen, at the age of 66.

Johan Petersen Fjord Johan Petersen Fjord, also known as Petersen Bay ( da, Petersen Bugt), is a fjord in King Christian IX Land, Eastern Greenland. The fjord is named after Danish Arctic explorer Johan Petersen (1813–1880). Geography This fjord is located on the ...

in Greenland is named after him.

Writing

* ''Erindringer fra Polarlandene optegnede af Carl Petersen, tolk ved Pennys og Kanes nordexpeditioner, 1850-55'', Copenhagen, P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1857. * ''Den sidste Franklin-expedition med "Fox", Capt. M'Clintock'', Copenhagen, F. Wøldikes Forlagsboghandel, 1860. 1813 births 1880 deaths Danish sailors Danish travel writers People from Nuuk Danish emigrants to Greenland {{Denmark-bio-stub