Povl Winning Toussieng (15 June 1892 – 11 January 1967) was a Danish doctor, author and resistance fighter.

Background and education

Povl Winning Toussieng was son of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Heinrich Elfred Theodor Toussieng(1845-1908) and Regina Frederikke Winning(1859-1938). Povl Winning Toussieng attended Rungsted Boarding School in Rungsted,

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. He went on to study medicine at 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 ...

. After having graduated in 1917, he became a general practitioner(GP) in

Nysted Nysted is a town in Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Zealand on the southeastern coast of the island of Lolland in south Denmark. Nysted is located on the southern coast of Lolland, and has a population of 1,292 (1 January 2022).psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

and Agnete Toussieng (25 June 1921 – 31 May 2006).

Stationing in the Dutch East Indies

Toussieng met Queen

Juliana of the Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

at the Dutch embassy in Copenhagen, and she encouraged him to go to the Dutch East Indies. Toussieng left Denmark for the Dutch East Indies in 1922 on a three-year contract with the Dutch Government. He was stationed in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

from 1922 to 1925, whereafter Toussieng continued working as a GP in the eastern part of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

- in

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...

until 1937. While he worked as a GP he also worked as a doctor for the

Pasoeroean Pasuruan ( nl, Pasoeroean) is a city in East Java, Java (island), Java, Indonesia. It had a population of 186,262 at the 2010 Census and 208,006 at the 2020 Census. It is surrounded by, but administratively separate from, Pasuruan Regency. It is ...

sugartesting station.

Travelogues

In 1937 Toussieng returned to Denmark, and became a GP in Charlottenlund in 1938. He wrote two books about his experiences in the jungles of the Dutch East Indies: ''Mahakam: Den store flod'' (Mahakam: The big river) and ''Mahakam, ovenfor Faldene'' (Mahakam, above the falls). Both books were published in 1941.

Collection of cultural objects

Toussieng was given a large number of masks, swords, spears and cultural objects from his grateful patients in the Dutch East Indies. Toussiengs descendants have donated a large number of these objects to the National Museum of Denmark. One of the objects - a mask - has since been portrayed on a Danish stamp.

Resistance fight

Toussieng was active in 1st Company of the Danish Home Guard, and he hid resistance fighters during the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...

during the second world war. Toussieng was together with his son arrested on 2 December 1944. They were questioned and interned for a periode of time before they were released. Toussieng also worked to improve the conditions of refugees from the

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, and after the war, he was awarded the Dutch Red Cross medal and appointed an officer of the Dutch

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

References

External links

Danish stamp depicting Toussiengs mask

Film shot by Toussieng in the Dutch East Indies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toussieng, Povl Winning Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Danish Christians Danish male writers People from Aalborg 1892 births 1967 deaths