Major Claus Enevold Paarss (18 February 1683 – 26 May 1762) was a
Danish military officer and official. Retired from service,
[Marquardt, Ole]
"Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy"
in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Empire?''. Verlag Ludwig (Kiel), 2006. he was appointed governor of Greenland by King
Frederick IV between 1728 and 1730.
[Mirsky, Jeannette. ]
To the Arctic!: The Story of Northern Exploration from Earliest Times
'. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1998.
Paarss was born in
Thy in then
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway ( Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe ...
in 1683 and commanded a Danish man-of-war and three
[Cranz, David & al. ]
The History of Greenland: including an account of the mission carried on by the United Brethren in that country
'. Longman, 1820. or four other ships to
Hans Egede
Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inui ...
's "Haabets Koloni" on
Kangeq
Kangeq or Kangek ( Kalaallisut: "Promontory") is a former settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. It is located on the same island that formed the first Danish colony on Greenland between 1721 and 1728.
History
As ...
, which he removed to the mainland opposite and fortified under the name "Godt-Haab",
later known as
Godthåb and then
Nuuk
Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other coun ...
. His contingent of colonists consisted of twenty soldiers, three sergeants, and two officers from the Danish artillery corps, along with twelve military convicts, ten unmarried mothers, and two female convicts who were to be wed to one another according to lots. He also carried a dozen horses.
After putting down a general mutiny,
Paarss tried and failed twice to cross the island from the
Ameralik Fjord in search of resources and a connection to the supposed location of the old
Norse Eastern Settlement. He also proposed a scheme to populate Greenland with fallen Danish aristocrats and their households on the model of the
French colonies in Canada.
Meanwhile, forty of his colonists died of scurvy and other complaints, leading to the abandonment of the colony even by the
native Greenlanders.
Paarss died in
Korsør in 1762.
See also
*
Danish colonization of Greenland
*
List of governors of Greenland
This is a list of governors of Greenland. The position was established, after the positions of inspectors of Greenland was abolished. In 1950, the two governors ( da, landsfogeder) were collected into the Governor of all of Greenland ( da, land ...
*
Hans Egede
Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inui ...
, a Lutheran missionary active at Paarss's settlement
References
1683 births
1762 deaths
Danish emigrants to Greenland
Governors of Greenland
Norwegian emigrants to Greenland
18th-century politicians
{{Greenland-politician-stub