Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen (20 February 1886 – 2 September 1957) was a Danish

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, author, journalist and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

. He is notable for his role in

Arctic exploration Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored ...

, namely the

Thule Expeditions Thule ( grc-gre, Θούλη, Thoúlē; la, Thūlē) is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shetland, northern Scotland, the island of Saa ...

Personal life

Freuchen was born in

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Guldb ...

, Denmark, the son of Anne Petrine Frederikke (née Rasmussen; 1862–1945) and Lorentz Benzon Freuchen (1859–1927). His father was a businessman. Freuchen was baptized in the local church. He attended the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

where for a time he studied medicine. Freuchen was married three times. He was first married in 1911 to Navarana Mequpaluk (d. 1921), an

Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...

woman who died in the

Spanish Flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

epidemic after bearing two children (a boy named Mequsaq Avataq Igimaqssusuktoranguapaluk (1916 - c. 1962) and a girl named Pipaluk Jette Tukuminguaq Kasaluk Palika (1918–1999)). His second marriage was to (1881–1960), daughter of (1847-1920), Danish businessman and director of

Danmarks Nationalbank Danmarks Nationalbank (in Danish often simply ''Nationalbanken'') is the central bank of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is a non-eurozone member of the European System of Central Banks ( ESCB). Since its establishment in 1818, the objective of the Na ...

. The marriage started in 1924 and was dissolved in 1944. In 1945, he married Danish

fashion illustrator Fashion Illustration is the art of communicating fashion ideas in a visual form that originates with illustration, drawing and painting and also known as Fashion sketching. It is mainly used by fashion designers to brainstorm their ideas on pape ...

Dagmar Cohn Dagmar Freuchen-Gale (June 30, 1907 – March 9, 1991) was a Danish illustrator, writer and editor. Early life and education Freuchen-Gale was born Dagmar Cohn in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, to Hans Cohn and Betty Johanne Neustadt. Her parents w ...

(1907–1991). Freuchen's grandson, Peter Ittinuar, was the first Inuk in Canada to be elected as an MP, and represented the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of Nunatsiaq in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 1979 to 1984. From 1926 to 1940, Freuchen owned the Danish island in

Nakskov Fjord Nakskov Fjord is an inlet in the west of the island of Lolland, Denmark. It is about long. There are about 10 small islands located in the fjord. The largest town in the area is Nakskov. The area is a designated bird sanctuary. Geography Nakso ...

. During this period he wrote several books and articles and entertained guests. Since 2000, the uninhabited island has been a part of Nakskov Vildtreservat, a wildlife reserve. At this time, Freuchen became heavily invested in

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

Career

In 1906, he went on his first expedition to Greenland as a member of the

Denmark expedition The Denmark expedition ( da, Danmark-ekspeditionen), also known as the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast, and as the Danmark Expedition after the ship, was an expedition to the northeast of Greenland in 1906–1908. Despite being ...

. Between 1910 and 1924, he undertook several expeditions, often with the noted Polar explorer

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies ...

. He worked with Rasmussen in crossing the

Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equiva ...

. He spent many years in

Thule Thule ( grc-gre, Θούλη, Thoúlē; la, Thūlē) is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek and Latin literature, Roman literature and cartography. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shet ...

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 ...

, living with the Polar Inuit. In 1935, Freuchen visited

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and by the end of the decade, he had travelled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. In 1910, Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen established the Thule Trading Station at Cape York (''

Uummannaq Uummannaq is a town in the Avannaata municipality, in central-western Greenland. With 1,407 inhabitants in 2020, it is the eighth-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal. Founded in 1763 as Omenak, ...

''), Greenland, as a trading base. The name Thule was chosen because it was the most northerly trading post in the world, literally the " Ultima Thule".Knud Rasmussen, 1927, ''Across Arctic America'', Introduction. Thule Trading Station became the home base for a series of seven expeditions, known as the ''

'', between 1912 and 1933. The First Thule Expedition (1912, Rasmussen, Freuchen, Inukitsork and Uvdloriark) aimed to test

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...

's claim that a channel divided

Peary Land Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the north ...

from Greenland. They proved this was not the case in a journey across the inland ice that almost killed them.Elizabeth Cruwys, 2003.

Clements Markham Sir Clements Robert Markham (20 July 1830 – 30 January 1916) was an English geographer, explorer and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society's president for ...

, president of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, called the journey the "finest ever performed by dogs." Freuchen wrote personal accounts of this journey (and others) in ''Vagrant Viking'' (1953) and ''I Sailed with Rasmussen'' (1958). He states in ''Vagrant Viking'' that only one other

dogsled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the e ...

trip across Greenland was ever successful. When he got stuck under an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

, he claims to have used his own

feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...

to fashion a dagger with which he freed himself. While in Denmark, Freuchen and Rasmussen held a series of lectures about their expeditions and the

Inuit culture The Inuit are an indigenous people of the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America (parts of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland). The ancestors of the present-day Inuit are culturally related to Iñupiat (northern Alaska), and Yupik (Siberia and ...

. Freuchen's first wife, Mekupaluk, who took the name Navarana, accompanied him on several expeditions. When she died he wanted her buried in the old church graveyard in

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 ...

. The church refused to perform the burial, because Navarana was not baptized, so Freuchen buried her himself. Knud Rasmussen later used the name Navarana for the lead role in the movie '' Palos Brudefærd'' which was filmed in East Greenland in 1933. Freuchen strongly criticized the Christian church which sent

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

among the Inuit without understanding their culture and traditions. When Freuchen returned to Denmark in the 1920s, he joined the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

and contributed with articles in the newspaper ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independe ...

''. From 1926 to 1932 he served as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of a magazine, '' Ude og Hjemme'', owned by the family of his second wife. He was also the leader of a movie company. In 1932, Freuchen returned to Greenland. This time the expedition was financed by the American

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

film-studios. He was also employed by the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

as a consultant and scriptwriter, specializing in

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

-related scripts, most notably MGM's

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-winning '' Eskimo/Mala The Magnificent'' starring

Ray Mala Ray Mala (born Ray Agnaqsiaq Wise, also known as Ach-nach-chiak ( Iñupiaq othography: ''Aġnatchiaq''); December 27, 1906 – September 23, 1952) was a prominent Native American Hollywood actor. He was one of Hollywood's Native American m ...

, and featuring Freuchen as Ship Captain. In 1956, he won $64,000 on ''

The $64,000 Question ''The $64,000 Question'' was an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the ...

'', an American TV quiz-show on the subject "The Seven Seas". In 1938, he founded The Adventurer's Club of Denmark (Danish: ''Eventyrernes Klub''), which still exists. They later honored his memory by planting an oak tree and creating an

Eskimo Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Siberian Yupik, Yuit) of eastern Si ...

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

near the place where he left Denmark for Greenland in 1906. It is situated east of Langeliniebroen in central

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 not far from the statue of ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Freuchen was actively involved with the

Danish resistance movement The Danish resistance movements ( da, Den danske modstandsbevægelse) were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation autho ...

against the occupation by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

despite having lost a leg to

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the han ...

in 1926. He openly claimed to be

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

whenever he witnessed anti-semitism. Freuchen was imprisoned by the Germans, and was sentenced to death, but he managed to escape and flee to Sweden. In 1945 he married Danish-Jewish designer

Dagmar Freuchen-Gale Dagmar Freuchen-Gale (June 30, 1907 – March 9, 1991) was a Danish illustrator, writer and editor. Early life and education Freuchen-Gale was born Dagmar Cohn in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, to Hans Cohn and Betty Johanne Neustadt. Her parents w ...

. As he related in ''Vagrant Viking'', he was friends with the royal families of Scandinavia and other countries, and his movie work in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and Hollywood brought him into the 'royalty' of moving pictures and the political world of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Later years

Freuchen and his wife Dagmar lived in

, and maintained a second home in

Noank, Connecticut Noank ( ) is a village in the town of Groton, Connecticut. This dense community of historic homes and local businesses sits on a small, steep peninsula at the mouth of the Mystic River with a long tradition of fishing, lobstering and boat-buildin ...

. The preface of his last work, ''Book of the Seven Seas'', is dated 30 August 1957, in Noank. He died of a heart attack three days later at the

Elmendorf Air Force Base Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II. It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command (AL ...

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, Alaska. After his death, his ashes were scattered on the famous table-shaped Mount Dundas outside of Thule.

Honours and awards

* Member,

Royal Danish Geographical Society The Royal Danish Geographical Society (RDGS, da, Det Kongelige Danske Geografiske Selskab) is a scientific society aimed at furthering the knowledge of the Earth and its inhabitants and to disseminate interest in the science of geography. It was ...

* Fellow,

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...

* 1921 -

Hans Egede Medal The Hans Egede medal is awarded by the Royal Danish Geographical Society for outstanding services to geography, "principally for geographical studies and research in the Polar lands." It was instituted in 1916 and named after Hans Egede, a Danish ...

from the Royal Danish Geographical Society

Freuchen Land Freuchen Land is a peninsula in far northwestern Greenland. It is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. History Freuchen Land was named after Arctic explorer Peter Freuchen (1886–1957), who took part in the 1906–1908 Denmark exp ...

in Greenland was named after him and

Navarana Fjord Navarana Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, far northern Greenland. It is named after an Inuit woman. In 1984 important zinc and barium deposits were discovered in the Navarana Fjord. Australian Ironbark Zinc corporation was granted an exploration ...

was named after his first wife.

Literary prizes

* 1938 – Sophus Michaëlis' Legat * 1954 – Herman Bangs Mindelegat * 1955 – Kaptajn H.C. Lundgreens Legat

Selected works

* ''Grønland, land og folk'', 1927 (Travelbook) Freuchen's first book * ''Storfanger'', 1927 (Novel) * ''Rømningsmand'', 1928 (novel) * ''Nordkaper'', 1929 - The Sea Tyrant (novel) * ''Ivalu'', 1930 - Ivalu, the Eskimo Wife - suomennettu (novel) * ''Knud Rasmussen''. Mindeudgave. 3 vol, 1934 (Peter Freuchen,

Therkel Mathiassen Therkel Mathiassen (5 September 1892, in Favrbo, Denmark – 14 March 1967) was an archaeologist, anthropologist, cartographer, and ethnographer notable for his scientific study of the Arctic. Mathiassen and Peter Freuchen took part in the Fift ...

and Kaj Birket-Smith) * ''Flugten til Sydamerika'', 1935 (Memories) * "Arctic Adventure: My Life in the Frozen North", Farrar & Rinehart, New York, Toronto, Copyright 1935. * ''Min grønlandske ungdom'', 1936 and 1953 (Memories) * ''Nuoruuteni Grönlannissa'' (Memories) * ''Min anden ungdom'', 1938 (Memories) * ''Sibiriske eventyr'', 1939 (Memories) * ''Diamantdronningen'', 1941 (novel) * ''Hvid mand'', 1943 - White Man - Valkoinen mies eskimoiden parissa (novel) * ''Eskimofortællinger'', 1944 (novel) * ''Solfjeld'', 1944 (novel) * ''Larions lov'', 1948 - The Law of Larion (novel about the inland Indians along the Yukon river) * ''Nigger-Dan'', 1951 (novel, aka ''The Legend of Daniel Williams'') * ''I al frimodighed'' 1953 (Memories) * "Ice Floes and Flaming Water", 1954 * ''I all uppriktighet", 1954 (Memories) * ''Vagrant Viking'', 1954 (Memories) * ''Fremdeles frimodig'', 1955 * ''Fortfarende uppriktig"´, 1956 og 1960 (Memories) * ''Fangsmænd i Melville-bugten'', 1956 - Pyyntimiehiä Melville lahdella (novel) * ''Fra Thule til Rio'', 1957 (Memories) * "Peter Freuchen's Book of the Seven Seas",

Julian Messner Julian Messner, Inc. was an American publishing house founded in 1933. Its best-selling books included 1956's ''Peyton Place (novel), Peyton Place''. In the 1960s it became a division of Simon & Schuster, and continued as a children's imprint in ...

Finn Salomonsen Finn Salomonsen (31 January 1909 – 23 April 1983) was a Danish ornithologist. He is best known for his work on the birds of Greenland. His interest in Greenland began at the age of 16 when he made a trip with Lehn Schioler to the Upernavik Dis ...

Dagmar Freuchen Dagmar Freuchen-Gale (June 30, 1907 – March 9, 1991) was a Danish illustrator, writer and editor. Early life and education Freuchen-Gale was born Dagmar Cohn in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, to Hans Cohn and Betty Johanne Neustadt. Her parents w ...

) * ''Erindringer'', 1963 - (Edited by

)

References

External links

Peter Freuchen on litteraturpriser.dk
(Danish)
Peter Freuchen
(Danish)
Photograph of Peter Freuchen and Dagmar Freuchen
(Irving Penn) * Petri Liukkonen

Authors' Calendar * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freuchen, Peter 1886 births 1957 deaths Anti-fascists Danish amputees Danish polar explorers Danish anthropologists Danish emigrants to Greenland Danish emigrants to the United States Danish explorers Scandinavian explorers of North America Greenlandic polar explorers Danish resistance members Danish socialists Danish travel writers People from Guldborgsund Municipality University of Copenhagen alumni 20th-century anthropologists 20th-century Danish journalists