Lars Hans Jens Josva Chemnitz (26 October 1925 – 18 November 2006) was a Greenlandic politician who served as chairman of the Landsråd from 1971 to 1979 and later as the speaker of the Inatsisartut from 1988 to 1991.
Early life
Chemnitz was born on 26 October 1925 in
Godthåb
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 gover ...
(now Nuuk),
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 ...
. He was a Greenlandic Inuk. He was the son of Kathrine Chemnitz, a women's rights advocate, and , an interpreter and politician.
Chemnitz received his early education in Greenland and earned a teacher's degree from in 1946, later studying in
Haslev
Haslev is a railway town in the southern part of the island of Zealand, Denmark, located about southwest of Copenhagen. It has a population of 12,634 (1 January 2025), and is the largest town and municipal seat of Faxe Municipality in Region Z ...
, Denmark, until 1951. Afterwards, he studied for a year at a college of physical education there. After his education, Chemnitz became a teacher, working in Haslev from 1952 to 1953, in
Hornbæk
Hornbæk () is a seaside resort town on the north coast of the Danish island of Sjælland, facing the Øresund which separates Denmark from Sweden. It is part of Helsingør Municipality and is located 12 km northwest of Helsingør. It is mai ...
from 1953 to 1955, in
Helsinge
Helsinge is the municipal seat of Gribskov Municipality in Region Hovedstaden on Zealand in Denmark. As of 1 January 2025, it has a population of 9,719.
from 1955 to 1957 and in
Sønderborg
(; ) is a Denmark, Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 28,333 (1 January 2025), He returned to Nuuk in 1958 and began teaching there that year. He became the deputy school inspector of
Julianehåb
Qaqortoq (), also known as Julianehåb, is the capital city of the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town in southern Greenland and the fourt ...
(now Qaqortoq) in 1960.
Chemnitz later studied for a year at a Danish teacher's college before coming back to Greenland, serving as the head of the school district in
Thule
Thule ( ; also spelled as ''Thylē'') is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. First written of by the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, France) in about 320 BC, i ...
(now Qaanaaq) from 1964 to 1966, before then moving to
Ilulissat
Ilulissat, also known as Jacobshavn or Jakobshav, is the municipal seat and largest town of the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With a population of 4,670 as of 2020, it is the ...
where he became the school inspector. He was the head of the Greenland
Efterskole
An efterskole (literally ''"afterschool"'', plural efterskoler) is a unique type of Danish voluntary independent residential school for young people between the age of 14 to 18. At an efterskole, students can choose to spend one, two or three yea ...
in
Holstebro
Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by Storå, Denmark, ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 37,487 (1 January 2025).
Political career
In 1967, Chemnitz entered politics, running for election and winning a seat in Greenland's provincial legislature, the ''Landsråd'' (
Greenland Provincial Council
The Greenland Provincial Council () was the provincial government of Greenland between 1950, when it was formed from the union of the earlier North and South Greenland Provincial Councils, and 1 May 1979, when it was replaced by the Greenland Hom ...
), from Ilulissat. One year later, he ran in the
1968 Danish general election
General elections were held in Denmark on 23 January 1968.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p524 The Social Democrats (Denmark), Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 62 ...
to be one of two Greenland members of the
Folketing
The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...
, Denmark's parliament, although he ended up losing the election to
Knud Hertling
Knud Ludvig Johannes Hertling (7 January 1925 in Paamiut (Frederikshåb) – 26 October 2010) was a Greenlandic-Danish politician from the Social Democrats. He served as Minister for Greenland from 1971 to 1973 under prime ministers Jens Otto Krag ...
. In 1971, he was elected the chairman of the ''Landsråd''. In his position as chairman of the council, he became the head of Greenland's government and was described as "Greenland's closest equivalent to a
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 ...
." He was re-elected to the council in 1975 representing Godthåb.
Chemnitz led Greenland amid negotiations with the Danish government for
home rule
Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
. He was a member of Greenland's Commission on Home Rule and helped the country achieve it with the passage of the Home Rule Act in May 1979. A new legislature, the
Inatsisartut
The Inatsisartut (, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament (legislative branch) of Greenland, an autonomous territoryMultiple sources:
*
*
* in the Danish Realm. Established in 1979, the parli ...
, was established, and Queen
Margrethe II
Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly ...
attended a ceremony marking its opening, where she gave Chemnitz an original copy of the Home Rule Act. At the ceremony, he told her that "We will treasure it as a national heirloom, you can rest assured that it will be well looked after."
Although in favor of home rule, Chemnitz was seen as a moderate, with ''
Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' (usually abbreviated DBL; title of first edition written ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon'') is a Danish biographical dictionary that has been published in three editions. The first edition, ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon, til ...
'' noting that he "sought to maintain close cooperation with Denmark and worked for a cautious transition to home rule." In 1979, he was the founder of the social-democratic political party
Atassut
Atassut (, also referred to as Feeling of Community) is a liberal-conservative and unionist political party in Greenland. Founded on 29 April 1978, Atassut is an established partner of Venstre.
History
Atassut was established in late 1976 a ...
, for which he served as national chairman for from 1979 to 1984.
Chemnitz was elected a member of the Inatsisartut in 1979 and became the leader of the opposition. At age 53, he was the oldest member of the legislature elected. He then defended his seat in the 1983 elections. In 1984, he ran for election to the Danish Folketing but lost to , and subsequently announced his retirement from politics. Steenholdt then became the leader of Chemnitz's party. From 1985 to 1986, he worked as an advisor for Greenlandic affairs in the Danish
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
, and was then head of human resources development for The BANK of Greenland from 1986 to 1988.
Chemintz announced a return to politics in 1988 and was elected to the Inatsisartut, being the oldest elected member at age 61. He became known as the "Grand Old Man" of Greenlandic opposition. Although no longer the leader of his party, he continued to maintain a major influence on it. In November 1988, the office of speaker of the Inatsisartut was created (previously the person in the position of prime minister presided over the Inatsisartut) and Chemnitz was elected to the position. He remained in that role until 1991. Although no longer speaker following 1991, he remained in the legislature as he was successful in winning re-election that year. In 1994, he launched another unsuccessful campaign for the Danish Folketing but was defeated by Steenholdt once more. He declined to run for re-election to the Inatsisartut in 1995 and retired from politics at the age of 69.
During his political career, Chemnitz was named to several other offices as well. He was a member of the executive council of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) from 1980 to 1986 and chaired the Greenlandic Society organization from 1985 to 1987. He was also on the supervisory board for the newspaper ''
Atuagagdliutit/Grønlandsposten
''Atuagagdliutit/Grønlandsposten'', usually referred to as AG, is one of the two newspapers in Greenland distributed nationwide. The newspaper is published twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The newspaper was created by a merger of a Kal ...
''.
Chemnitz was knighted in the
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...
in 1971. He was knighted in the 1st degree in 1978 and later made commander. In 1989, he was awarded the
Nersornaat
Greenland Medal for Meritorious Service (; ), is awarded by the Greenland Home Rule government. It is the highest award based in Greenland. The medal was instituted on 1 May 1989 in connection with the ten-year anniversary of the Greenlandic home ...
in gold, Greenland's highest honor, being, along with
Jonathan Motzfeldt
Jonathan Jakob Jørgen Otto Motzfeldt (25 September 1938 – 28 October 2010) was a Greenlandic priest and politician. He is considered one of the leading figures in the establishment of Greenland Home Rule.
, the first recipient of the award.
Personal life and death
Chemnitz married Danish nurse Annie Westergaard in May 1958. He moved to Denmark with his wife permanently in the 1990s. He died on 18 November 2006, at the age of 81, after a long illness.