- Peter Freuchen
Peter Freuchen, born "Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen" (
February 2 1886 Nykøbing Falster -September 2 1957 ) was a Danish explorer, writer and traveler.He spent many years in
Thule ,Greenland , living with the PolarInuit . He worked withKnud Rasmussen , crossing the Greenland icecap with him.Freuchen married three times: first, in 1911, to an Inuit woman named "Navarana Mequpaluk" (d. 1921), who died in the
Spanish Flu epidemic after bearing two children (a boy named Mequsaq and a girl named Pipaluk); next, in 1924, to "Magdalene Vang Lauridsen" (the marriage was dissolved in 1944); and lastly, in 1945, to "Dagmar Cohn".He was also employed by the
movie industry as a consultant and scriptwriter, specializing in Arctic-related scripts. Most notablyMGM 's Oscar winning "Eskimo/Mala The Magnificent" starringRay Mala . In 1956 he won $64,000 on an American TV quiz-show on the subject "The Seven Seas".During
World War II , Freuchen was actively involved with theDanish resistance movement against the Germans, despite having lost a leg some years previously. He was imprisoned for a time by the Germans.After his death, his ashes were scattered on a mountain near Thule.
Works
He wrote many books, including:
* "Grønland, land og folk", 1927 (Travelbook)
* "Storfanger", 1927 (Novel)
* "Knud Rasmussen". Mindeudgave. 3 vol, 1934 (Peter Freuchen,Therkel Mathiassen and Kaj Birket-Smith)
* "Arctic Adventure: My Life in the Frozen North", Farrar & Rinehart, New York, Toronto, Copyright 1935.
* "Min grønlandske ungdom", 1936 (Memories)
* "Min anden ungdom", 1938 (Memories)
* "I al frimodighed", 1953 (Memories)
* "Fremdeles frimodig", 1955 (Memories)External links
* [http://www.litteraturpriser.dk/aut/fp.htm Peter Freuchen on litteraturpriser.dk]
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