Johan Carl Christian Petersen (28 June 1813 – 24 June 1880) was a Danish

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

and

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

who participated in several expeditions in Northern Canada and

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

in search of the missing British explorer

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Northern Canada, Canadia ...

Early life

Petersen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. At the age of about 20 he moved to Godhavn (now Qeqertarsuaq) in

where he made a living as a carpenter and sailor. In 1841 he moved to

Upernavik Kanunarinaqiniiaaq (known as Upernavik) is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,064 inhabitants as of 2024, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It c ...

, at the time the most northern Danish colony in Greenland. There he married a

Greenlandic Inuk The Greenlandic Inuit or sometimes simply the Greenlandic are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to Greenland, where they constitute the largest ethnic population. They share a common ancestry, culture, and history; and natively speak the G ...

woman and adopted their customs and way of living, in the process he became a quite skilled hunter, dog sledge driver, and observer.

Exploration

He worked on

William Penny Captain William Penny (1809–1892) was a Scottish shipmaster, whaler and Arctic explorer. He undertook the first maritime search for the ships of Sir John Franklin. In 1840, Penny established the first whaling station in the Cumberland Sound a ...

's Expedition (1850–51),

Elisha Kane Elisha Kent Kane (February 3, 1820 – February 16, 1857) was a United States Navy medical officer and Arctic explorer. He served as assistant surgeon during Caleb Cushing's journey to China to negotiate the Treaty of Wangxia and in the ...

's Second Grinnell Expedition (1853–1855) into

Kane Basin Kane Basin (; ) is an Arctic waterway lying between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, Canada's northernmost. It links Smith Sound to Kennedy Channel and forms part of Nares Strait. It is approximately in length and at its widest. It is named aft ...

Francis Leopold McClintock Sir Francis Leopold McClintock (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. He confirmed explorer John Rae's controversial report gather ...

Expedition (1857) and

Isaac Israel Hayes Isaac Israel Hayes (March 5, 1832 – December 17, 1881) was an American Arctic explorer, physician, and politician, who was appointed as the commanding officer at Satterlee General Hospital during the American Civil War, and was then elected, ...

North Pole Expedition (1860–61). He wrote two books about these expeditions. On Kane's expedition he worked together with the young Inuk

Hans Hendrik Hans Hendrik (; 2 June 1832 – 11 August 1889) was a Kalaaleq interpreter, Arctic explorer, and the first Inuk to publish an account of his travels. He was born in the southern settlement of Fiskenæsset. Expeditions Second Grinnel ...

, for whom

Hans Island Hans Island (Inuktitut and , ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; , ; , ) is an island in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait in the high Arctic region, split between the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut a ...

was named.

Death

After these expeditions, Petersen moved back to Denmark and died in Copenhagen, at the age of 66. Johan Petersen Fjord in Greenland is named after him.

Writing

* ''Erindringer fra Polarlandene optegnede af Carl Petersen, tolk ved Pennys og Kanes nordexpeditioner, 1850-55'', Copenhagen, P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1857. * ''Den sidste Franklin-expedition med "Fox", Capt. M'Clintock'', Copenhagen, F. Wøldikes Forlagsboghandel, 1860.

References

1813 births 1880 deaths 19th-century Danish sailors Danish travel writers People from Nuuk Danish emigrants to Greenland {{Denmark-bio-stub