The polar explorer Knud Rasmussen

Knud Rasmussen and Inûkitsoq study a map during the second Thule Expedition. The first two Thule expeditions used Inuit travel techniques, and both revolved around mapping. The first, in 1912, proved that Peary Land was not an island, while the second, in 1916‑1918 mapped the coastline and fjords of northernmost Greenland.
SVEND LAUGE KOCH/ARKTISK INSTITUT

Knud Rasmussen (1879‑1933) was the greatest Danish polar explorer of the 20th century, matching the greats Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen. But unlike the his two Norwegian counterparts and other former polar explorers, his goal was not to reach the last white spots on the globe, but rather the people who lived furthest to the north. His expeditions came on the cusp of a new era, the age of decolonisation and democracy, and Rasmussen had a special background for making the meeting of cultures his mission in life. He was born and raised in Ilulissat where his father was a priest and his mother had Greenlandic ancestry. He therefore spoke Greenlandic just as good as he did Danish. Moreover, crucial to his development was the fact that he increasingly identified with his Greenlandic heritage. After his first expedition to Greenland in 1902‑04, the socalled Literary Expedition, led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, he stated: »I am, after all, a Greenlander and as such best suited for life in Greenland.«

The expedition had a long stay with an Inuit population north of the colonised Greenland. Here, he and Peter Freuchen established the Thule trading station in 1910, which was to finance new expeditions, among other things. He went on a total of seven expeditions with the 5th Thule Expedition (1921—24) to Canada, Alaska and Siberia being the greatest and most important. The aim was in part to find the origin of the Inuit and their migration routes to Greenland, and, to the extent possible, to locate all remaining Inuit groups in order to acquire knowledge of their cultural traditions and religious conceptions. Before the expeditions, Rasmussen had collected legends and myths throughout the country. Across the areas visited, the expedition created an awareness of the Inuit as a cohesive nation with its own history, storytelling tradition and religion.

Rasmussen was not only a bridge builder between the Arctic peoples, but also between Denmark and Greenland. He wished to tie Denmark and Greenland as close together as possible. Through his books and lectures, he therefore sought not only to expand the Danes’ knowledge of Greenland and the Greenlanders, but also to convey his great love of the country and its people. Because of his great charisma and great popularity in both Denmark and Greenland, he played an instrumental role in fortifying relations between the two countries both at the time and long after. Shortly before his death he managed to make the movie The Wedding of Palo in Greenlandic and with Greenlandic actors.

Further reading