Peter Olsen Hansen (11 June 1818 – 9 August 1895) was the translator of the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude d ...

into

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

. Hansen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, and was a sailor by trade. Hansen had developed an interest in Mormonism as early as 1842 when he read a newspaper article, likely written by a Norwegian author, which spoke of "an ancient book called Mormon's Book" which was "found in a miraculous way by a young man whose name was Joseph Smith." He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1844. After this, Hansen moved to the Mormon movement's headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois that same year, intent to translate the Book of Mormon into his mother tongue. Also at Nauvoo. Hansen assisted in building the

Nauvoo Temple The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...

. Jenson, Andrew. ''

Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia ''Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' (abbreviated ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia'') is a four-volume biographical dic ...

'', p. 766. Hansen later became a

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in September 1847. In 1849, Hansen was at last selected to accompany

Erastus Snow Erastus Snow (November 9, 1818 – May 27, 1888) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1849 until his death. Snow was also a leading figure in Mormon colonizati ...

on the first Latter-day Saint

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

to Denmark. He arrived in Copenhagen on 11 May 1950, and, soon after arriving, began attending

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

worship services, quickly befriending several people and successfully converting two families to the Mormon faith down the line. His translation work continued during this time, enlisting his former schoolteacher 'Miss Mathisen' to review his translation in 1850, before finally completing and publishing it in 1851. All in all, he served on this mission from 1849 to 1855, during which he served as the first editor of the ''Skandinaviens Stjerne''. Hansen later served additional missions in Denmark from 1873 to 1875 and from 1880 to 1882. Hansen died at Manti, Utah Territory.

References

1818 births 1895 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saints Converts to Mormonism Danish Latter Day Saints Danish Mormon missionaries Danish emigrants to the United States 18th-century Danish translators English–Danish translators Missionary linguists Mormon missionaries in Denmark Mormon pioneers People from Copenhagen Translators of the Book of Mormon {{LDS-stub