Povl Winning Toussieng (15 June 1892 – 11 January 1967) was a Danish doctor, author and resistance fighter.

Background and education

Povl Winning Toussieng was son of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Heinrich Elfred Theodor Toussieng (1845–1908) and Regina Frederikke Winning (1859–1938). Povl Winning Toussieng attended Rungsted Boarding School in

Rungsted Rungsted, also known as ''Rungsted Kyst'', is an affluent suburban neighborhood in Hørsholm Municipality on the Øresund coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The center of Hørsholm is located two kilometers west of Rungsted. At the Øresund coast ...

, Denmark. He went on to study medicine 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. ...

. After having graduated in 1917, he became a general practitioner (GP) in

Nysted Nysted is a town in Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Zealand on the southeastern coast of the island of Lolland in south Denmark. Nysted is located on the southern coast of Lolland, and has a population of 1,265 (1 January 2024).psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

and Agnete Toussieng (25 June 1921 – 31 May 2006).

Stationing in the Dutch East Indies

Toussieng met Queen

Juliana of the Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

at the Dutch embassy in Copenhagen, and she encouraged him to go to the Dutch East Indies. Toussieng left Denmark for the Dutch East Indies in 1922 on a three-year contract with the Dutch Government. He was stationed in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

from 1922 to 1925, whereafter Toussieng continued working as a GP in the eastern part of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

– in

Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...

until 1937. While he worked as a GP he also worked as a doctor for the Pasoeroean sugartesting station.

Travelogues

In 1937 Toussieng returned to Denmark, and became a GP in

Charlottenlund Charlottenlund is a suburban area on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the administrative seat of Gentofte Municipality. Bordered to the east by the Øresund, to the South by Hellerup and to the north by Klampenborg, it is one of the ...

in 1938. He wrote two books about his experiences in the jungles of the Dutch East Indies: ''Mahakam: Den store flod'' (Mahakam: The big river) and ''Mahakam, ovenfor Faldene'' (Mahakam, above the falls). Both books were published in 1941.

Collection of cultural objects

Toussieng was given a large number of masks, swords, spears and cultural objects from his grateful patients in the Dutch East Indies. Toussiengs descendants have donated a large number of these objects to the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark, Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from S ...

. One of the objects – a mask – has since been portrayed on a Danish stamp.

Resistance fight

Toussieng was active in 1st Company of the

Danish Home Guard The Danish Home Guard () (HJV) is the fourth service of the Danish Armed Forces. It was formerly concerned only with the defence of Danish territory, but since 2006, it has also supported the Danish military efforts in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Th ...

, and he hid resistance fighters during the German

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself Neutral countries in World War II, neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from Military occupation, occupying the country soon after the outbreak of ...

during the Second World War. Toussieng was together with his son arrested on 2 December 1944. They were questioned and interned for a period of time before they were released. Toussieng also worked to improve the conditions of refugees from the Netherlands, and after the war, he was awarded the Dutch Red Cross medal and appointed an officer of the Dutch

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

References

External links

Danish stamp depicting Toussiengs mask

Film shot by Toussieng in the Dutch East Indies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toussieng, Povl Winning Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Danish Christians Danish male writers People from Aalborg 1892 births 1967 deaths