Jonathan Jakob Jørgen Otto Motzfeldt (25 September 1938 – 28 October 2010) was a
Greenlandic priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
and politician. He is considered one of the leading figures in the establishment of
Greenland Home Rule.
[Greenland mourns politician Jonathan Motzfeldt](_blank)
, nunatsiaqonline.ca, October 29, 2010 Jonathan Motzfeldt was the first
. He was Greenland's prime minister from 1979 until 1991 and 1997 until 2002. He is Greenland's longest-serving prime minister and won the most elections of any Greenlandic Prime Minister. He is considered a centre-left politician and Greenland became a recognized country during his tenure.
Personal life
Jonathan "Junnuk" Motzfeldt was born in 1938 in the settlement of
Qassimiut
Qassimiut, also known by its Danish name Bødker, is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The settlement was founded in 1835 as a trading station. With a population of 14 in 2024, it is the smallest organised, perma ...
in southern Greenland as son to the
hunter
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...
Søren Motzfeldt (1902-1984) and his wife Kirsten Klemmensen (1904-1979).
After his teacher's exam at ''Ilinniarfissuaq'' (Greenland College) in
Nuuk
Nuuk (; , formerly ) is the capital and most populous city of Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the territory's largest cultural and economic center. It is also the seat of gove ...
in 1960, he studied
theology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University.
...
until 1966, subsequently working as a pastor in
Qaqortoq
Qaqortoq (), also known as Julianehåb, is the capital city of the Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town in sout ...
, Greenland until 1979.
In 1992, Jonathan Motzfeldt married Kristjana Guðrún Guðmundsdóttir (born 1951) from Iceland. They had no children.
However, from a previous partnership with Margit Kock Petersen, he had two children: Karen Motzfeldt (born 1966) and Claus Motzfeldt (born 1969). Greenlandic handball player Hans Peter Motzfeldt-Kyed is Motzfeldt's nephew.
Political career
Already in the mid-1950s, Jonathan Motzfeldt started his battle for Greenland's autonomy with a group of young Inuit activists.
In the early 1970s Motzfeldt became involved in the social democratic independence movement
Siumut
Siumut (SIU, ; ; ) is a political party in Greenland in the social democratic tradition. Since the establishment of home rule in 1979, it has been the dominant party in Greenland. Siumut is led by Erik Jensen, who beat the then-incumbent Prime ...
. After having placed himself at the forefront of the political emancipation process that Greenland's population began in earnest in the early 1970s, Motzfeldt became synonymous with the Greenland Home Rule. He secured almost absolute power through a series of political purges, where old comrades like
Lars Emil Johansen, Moses Olsen, Lars Chemnitz, and Emil Abelsen were sidelined.
In 1977 he was elected Chairman of the Siumut party for the first time. In addition, he served as
Speaker of the Greenland
Landsting from 1979 to 1988, in 1997, and from 2002 to 2008.
On 1 May 1979, Jonathan Motzfeldt became the first
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of Greenland. He led the government for almost twelve years until 18 March 1991, when he was forced to resign and leave politics because of a drinking problem.
[''J. Motzfeldt, Ex-Premier Hailed as a Pillar of Greenland, Dies at 72''](_blank)
nytimes.com, OCT. 29, 2010 However, he was awarded several key positions in the publicly owned portion of Greenland's economy. The post of Prime Minister thereafter went to
Lars Emil Johansen. Due in part, but not exclusively, to the latter's alcoholism, Motzfeldt took the post of Prime Minister again in 1997. He held this post until 2002 when he was forced to call new elections because of serious criticism from the parliament (the
Landsting) of management of the Home Rule's economy.
Unilingual party fellow
Hans Enoksen was elected Prime Minister of Greenland on December 14, 2002.
Josef "Tuusi" Motzfeldt, the leader of
IA, became deputy prime minister in the new government.
Unilingual Inuk becomes Greenland’s new premier
, nunatsiaqonline.ca, December 13, 2002
Jonathan Motzfeldt was then again elected chairman of the Greenlandic parliament. His last political year were marked by renewed alcohol abuse and uncontrolled expenses on travel and representation.
Mr. Motzfeldt resigned as speaker of Greenland's Parliament on 18 January 2008 amid allegations that he had groped a female civil servant who reported him to the police. Motzfeldt denied wrongdoing. The case was subsequently dropped, without charges. Fellow party member Ruth Heilmann became his successor as speaker of the parliament.
In the spring of 2009, Motzfeldt was hit by a major scandal involving the abuse of public funds for private purposes. The newspaper AG documented that up to 2008 he had let the government pay for private dinners. Also, it was the public purse that paid when the former Prime Minister consumed large amounts of alcohol. The scandal culminated when he briefly before parliamentary elections in June 2009 was denied boarding a helicopter in Qaqortoq due to intoxication. He was not re-elected in the parliamentary elections on 2 June 2009.
Death
Motzfeldt died on 28 October 2010, aged 72, from a cerebral hemorrhage. At the time of his death Motzfeldt was the president of the West Nordic Council.
References
External links
Gyldendal encyclopedia entry
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Motzfeldt, Jonathan
1938 births
2010 deaths
20th-century Greenlandic politicians
20th-century Inuit people
21st-century Greenlandic politicians
21st-century Inuit people
Greenlandic Inuit people
Inuit politicians
People from Kujalleq
Siumut politicians
Prime ministers of Greenland
Chairmen of the Parliament of Greenland
Place of death missing
Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of Nersornaat