Hans Povelsen Egede (1686 - 1758)

Born 31 Jan 1686 in Harstad, Troms, Norge

Descendants

Died 5 Nov 1758 at age 72 in Stubbekøbing, Falsters Nørre, Maribo, Danmark

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Biography

Hans Egede is Notable.

Overview

Hans Poulsen Egede var en norsk teolog av dansk familie som startet misjon og arbeidet som prest på Grønland. Han omtales ofte som «Grønlands apostel» og var den første misjonæren som arbeidet blant inuit-befolkningen på Grønland. Egede var på Grønland i 15 år og grunnla kolonien Godthåb, som i dag har det grønlandske navnet Nuuk. ^[1]

Hans Poulsen Egede was a Norwegian theologian from a Danish family who started a mission and worked as a priest in Greenland. Hans is often referred to as the "Apostle of Greenland". He was the first missionary to work among the Inuit population of Greenland. Egede was in Greenland for 15 years and founded the colony Godthåb, which today has the Greenlandic name Nuuk. [1]

Early Life

Hans Egede was born on January 31, 1686 at Harstad, Norway to Povel Hansen, a Dane, and his Norwegian wife, Kirsten. ^[2]

In 1701, 15 year-old Hans was recorded on the census in Senja, Norway with his father, Povel Egede. ^[3] His father Povel Hanssen Egede was working as a registrar in 1701, a position he would hold until his death in 1758. ^[4]

Hans Egede was educated in Copenhagen, Denmark, the nearest University available to him. He showed broad interest in a number of fields including history, geology, chemistry, and languages. He graduated with a degree in theology and was ordained as a Lutheran minister on 15 April 1707. Shortly after his ordination, he married Gertrud Rasch. They resided at Lofoten.^[2]

The Apostle of Greenland

Hans Egede was long fascinated by Greenland and its history. One of his treasured books wasTorfai Groenlandia Antiqua. ^[5] He read of Eric the Red's exploration of Greenland which had begun in 983, and eventually resulted in a colony of over 3000 people. But, by the fourteenth century, the colony had vanished. Egede's interest grew and he successfully enlisted the KIng of Denmark in his plans to connect with the lost colony in Greenland.^[2]

0n 12 May 1721, the ship Haabet left Bergen for Greenland, with Egede, his wife and children, and forty colonists. (Greenland issued a stamp commemorating the crossing of the Haabet in 2002.)^[6] Egede's goal, with the blessing of the Danish government, was to reconnect with the original colony established hundreds of years before. He also hoped to establish a mission. On his arrival, he found no sign of the former colonists, but Egede did establish a mission and began outreach to the resident population.

Give Us This Day, Our Daily Seal

Egede connected with the native people of Greenland, while continuing to search the coasts for evidence of the vanished colony. He drew detailed maps (example on right), and carefully recorded the flora and fauna he encountered.

Egede initially faced a communication challenge when teaching the Lord’s Prayer to the native people of Greenland. ^[7] It seems that in an effort to make the prayer meaningful for a people who did not eat bread, Egede turned the phrase “Give us this day our daily bread” into “Give us this day our daily seal”.

Scientific Pursuits

Though trained in theology, Hans Egede had a seemingly endless interest in the natural world. He published a natural history of Greenland in 1741, complete with maps and other illustrations, and discussion of the native Inuit people. ^[8] He also maintained a life-long interest in alchemy and conducted many experiments on the Island of Hope. ^[9]

A Most Dreadful Monster

Hans Egede and his son, Poul, are perhaps most widely known today for their sighting of an unusual creature, described by Hans Egede as "a most dreadful monster". Egede's account of the monster, was taken seriously by his contemporaries, and also by scholars and the not-so scholarly today.^[10] One author characterizes the Egede sighting as follows:

...We have now for the first time in an eyewitness report by a responsible person whose integrity was so far beyond reproach that he was to end his days as an Archbishop.^[11]

Later Years

Gertrude Egede died in Greenland on December 21 in 1734 (1735?). Hans accompanied his wife's body back to Denmark; he arrived in August of 1736. Hans held a position at the Missionary College there until he resigned in 1747. At one point, he was offered the position of Bishop of Trondheim, which he refused. ^[2]

Hans Egedge passed away in 1758. ^[12] HIs tombstone reads:

An honour among Christians;

A light to heathens.

Famous in Norway

Revered in Denmark

But in Greenland, immortal.^[2]

Hans is buried next to his beloved wife, Gertrude, in Copenhagen. ^[2]

Contemporary View

It must be noted that although at one point, the Greenlanders seemingly revered Hans Egede as the Apostle of Greenland, the current view toward colonialism and its effect on native peoples has evolved. Amid a controversy surrounding a statue of Hans Egede that overlooks the city of Nuuk, in 2020 the citizens of Greenland voted to keep the statue in place, although it was by no means a unanimous decision. ^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ Store Norske Leksikon (https://snl.no/Hans_Egede)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Garnett, E. 1968. To Greenland's Icy Mountains. Roy Pulbishers, Inc. NY. 190 pp.
3. ↑ Digital Archives of Norway. 1701 census, no. 19: Senja and Trosmø https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/206/pc00000000667142
4. ↑ Digital Archives of Norway. Probate register for Lenvikk 1706-1753. https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/27/pa00000000139025
5. ↑ Schneider, J.H. No Date. Hans Egede. The Book Concern. Columbus, Ohio
6. ↑ shipstamps.co.uk. Haabet (Hope). https://shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5997 accessed 7 January 2022.
7. ↑ Nielsen, F.A.J. 20.19. “Giv os i dag vor daglige sæl” Ilisimatusarfik, p. 12. https://uni.gl/media/4932936/ilisimatusaat_dansk.pdf Retrieved 8 January 2022.
8. ↑ Egede, H. 1741. Det gamle Grønlands ny perlustration eller naturel-historie (The New Perlustration or Natural History of the Old Greenland). Reprint by Oslo,, i kommisjon: A.W. Brøgger. 1926.
9. ↑ Norrgré, H. 2020. An Alchemist in Greenland: Hans Egede (1686–1758) and Alchemical Practice in the Colony of Hope, Ambix, 67:2, 153-173, DOI: 10.1080/00026980.2020.1747305 accessed 8 January 2022.
10. ↑ France, R.L. 2021. Ethnozoology of Egede's "most Dreadful Monster," the Foundational Sea Serpent. Contributions in Ethnobiography. Society of Ethnobiology.
11. ↑ Carrington, R. 1957. Mermaids and Mastadons: A Book of Natural and Unnatural History. Chatto and Windus Publishers, London, UK.
12. ↑ 'Kvæfjordboka 2, p. 340. Utg. Kvæfjord kommune, Bygdeboknemda. Kvæfjord. 1973. (nb.no|NBN:no-nb_digibok_2016101048004).
13. ↑ CPH POST online. https://cphpost.dk/?p=116715. accessed 14 January 2022.

• https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Egede
• Hans Egede i Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., 1911
• Mads Fægteborg: Hans Egede. I Ole Høiris (red.): Grønland – en refleksiv udfordring. Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 2000. pp. 39-73.
• Mads Fægteborg: Kridtpiber, tobak og en apostel i Stubbekøbing. I Håkon Brun (red.): Fra opprører til apostel. Hans Egedes liv og kirken på Grønland. Egedejubileet Kabelvåg 2008. pp. 227-245.

'Kvæfjordboka 2, p. 340. Utg. Kvæfjord kommune, Bygdeboknemda. Kvæfjord. 1973. (nb.no|NBN:no-nb_digibok_2016101048004).

Store Norske Leksikon (https://snl.no/Hans_Egede) Hans Poulsen Egede var en norsk teolog av dansk familie som startet misjon og arbeidet som prest på Grønland. Han omtales ofte som «Grønlands apostel» og var den første misjonæren som arbeidet blant inuit-befolkningen på Grønland. Egede var på Grønland i 15 år og grunnla kolonien Godthåb, som i dag har det grønlandske navnet Nuuk.