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, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

into Danish. Hansen 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 ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, 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 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded dur ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1844. After this, Hansen moved to the Mormon movement's headquarters in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its h ...

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'', p. 766. Hansen later became a Mormon pioneer, arriving in the

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in September 1847. In 1849, Hansen was at last selected to accompany Erastus Snow on the first Latter-day Saint mission to Denmark. He arrived in Copenhagen on 11 May 1850, and, soon after arriving, began attending

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

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 Writers from Copenhagen Translators of the Book of Mormon {{LDS-stub