Lorenz Edfred Peter Freichen (02.02.1886–02.09.1957) is a Danish Arctic explorer, author of numerous books, anthropologist and journalist. Our biography, personal life and travel will be devoted to our article. A lot in the life of Peter Freichen is connected with the Soviet Union. He came to Russia and participated in expeditions to explore the Arctic. He also collaborated with Soviet polar explorers. What do we know about his personal life? They say he settled in Greenland and even took an Eskimo as his wife? In the photographs, an Arctic explorer looks like a real giant. Especially in the neighborhood with his miniature wife. Are these the flaws of retro photographs or did Freichen really suffer from gigantism? What books did he write? Is it possible to read them to an inexperienced person in scientific terminology? All this will be discussed in this article.
Biography, the beginning of a traveler’s career
Peter Freichen was born in Nykobing, Denmark, on February 2, 1886. His parents were Lorenz Benzon and Anna Petrina Frederikka (nee Rasmussen). From childhood, the sea attracted the boy. Probably affected by the Viking genes. However, the young man graduated from the university with a degree in philology. This helped him later become famous as a writer and journalist. In 1906, he signed up for the expedition and, thus, until 1908, explored Greenland. But, having returned home, he never stopped dreaming in the Far North. In 1910, he, along with a bosom friend, another polar explorer Knud Rasmussen, founded the Thule Station Factor. He lived among the Eskimos from 1913 to 1919. Later he became a member of another expedition, which was a detailed map of the island of Greenland (1921-1924).
A family
The personal life of the polar explorer is known that he was married three times. For the first time, he really married with an Eskimo named Navarana Mekupaluk. She gave birth to her husband Mekusak Avatak's son Igimakssusuktoranguapaluka and her daughter Pipaluk Jett Tukuminguak Kasaluk Palika Hager. This marriage lasted ten years (from 1911 to 1921) until Navarana died of the “Spanish woman” - a terrible epidemic of influenza, which gathered a huge human harvest in Western Europe and North America. The second time Peter Freichen married in 1924, Magdalen Wang Lauridsen. But the couple decided to divorce in 1944. And finally, in 1945, a polar explorer connected his fate with Dagmar Kohn (1907–1991). About Freichen's grandson, Inuit (Eskimo) Peter, it is known that he was elected mayor of Nuantsinaka in Canada from 1979 to 1984.
Life in Greenland. Tule base station
Having once visited Greenland, Freichen could no longer live without this largest island in the world. He returned there in 1910 and for a long time connected his fate with the indigenous people, the Inuit. Together with another polar explorer, Knud Rasmussen, Freichen founded Thule. This station got its name from Ultima Thule - the northernmost post office. Thule became the base for many expeditions. Peter Freyhen and his wife, Navarana, constantly lived on it from 1913 to 1919. Polar explorers made bold attacks deep into the island, twice crossed Greenland on dog teams. In total, from 1912 to 1933, seven such expeditions were completed.
What was Peter Freichen: height and weight
In 1958, a book of memoirs about this remarkable polar explorer was published in Denmark. Its authors are the daughter from his first marriage Pipaluk, Uvdluriak Inuterssuak, brother of Navarana, Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate, and others. The “Book of Freichen” is full of warm words about a brave polar explorer who connected his entire destiny with the Inuit and even became related to them. Among other things, the question of the growth of this unique person is raised there. Indeed, in the old photo, which depicts the polar explorer Peter Freichen with his wife, he looks like a real giant. But this effect is achieved thanks to the miniatureness of his wife Dagmar (nee Gale).
Although Freichen, as those who knew him personally write about him, was a tall man of a powerful physique. Even Thor Heyerdahl, himself far from short, was impressed by his figure. But this hero never used his power for evil. He was known as an exceptionally kind and sympathetic person, always coming to the aid of the weak. Many call him a human rights activist. After all, he fought for a better life for the indigenous peoples of the Far North. From the pages of the "Book of Freichen" we are faced with the image of a researcher, a talented writer and humanist.
Research in other countries
Greenland was the land of his dreams. But the harsh nature of other territories of the Far North attracted him with no less force. He took the opportunity, and when the Americans decided to make a documentary about the natural beauties of Alaska, he led this film expedition. Peter Freichen visited the Hudson. Later, he traveled to the extreme northern territories of Sweden (Lapland) and Norway. In 1935, an Arctic explorer decided to temporarily change the polar ice to the climate of the savannah, and for this purpose went to South Africa. He also traveled all over South and North America. But most of all he liked the harsh northern nature. In 1928 and 1937 he took part in two Soviet expeditions, which were equipped in the Siberian Arctic. He was connected by a strong friendship with academician Schmidt O. Yu. Knowing nothing about the background of the Stalinist regime and the Gulag, the Danish polar explorer adhered to idealistic views on the Soviet Union.
Times of the second world war
In this terrible period, when Nazism swept Europe, Peter Freichen, whose height was six feet and seven inches, could not stay away from events. He returned to his homeland, to Denmark, and became an active participant in the resistance movement. But at that time he already lost his leg (due to frostbite in 1926). Freichen openly declared that he was a Jew, anywhere, as soon as he heard some sort of anti-Semitic maxim. In the end, he was captured by the Nazis and sentenced to death. But the courageous polar explorer managed to escape from captivity. At first he hid in Sweden, and then moved to the United States of America. After the end of World War II, Freichen again returned to Greenland, dear to his heart, to the Inuit, whose language, customs and traditions he knew so well. His passion for travel did not leave him until his death. And the famous traveler died in September 1957 from a heart attack at the airport of Elmendorf, Alaska, when he was about to fly to Greenland. He was seventy-one years old. His remains were buried on his dear land - near the Thule station in Greenland. The last years of his life, he and his wife Dagmar lived in New York or in his second house, in Noank (Connecticut).
Biography and books of the author
Freichen Peter is known not only for his polar studies. He also wrote books. Moreover, it is not only about scientific works, essays and documentaries, but also about works of art - stories, plays and novels. Unfortunately, only three of his works were published in Russian. These are the novels “My Greenland Youth” and “The Great Catcher”. Another story with elements of an autobiography is “Melville Bay Hypericum”. Turning the pages of this book, we see the image of an interesting, friendly person who delights others with his moral and physical qualities. Friends are drawn to him, and he respects others, regardless of their skin color. This polar explorer sought to help anyone who was in trouble. “Melville Bay Hypericum” is a hymn to the Inuit people who live in harsh and dangerous conditions on an island almost entirely shrouded in ice shell. The book is interwoven with a story about European sailors and whalers. The second stay of Peter Freichen in the Soviet Union can be found in the book Siberian Adventures. Literally three days before his death, which happened on September 2, 1957, the author finished work on the manuscript of the Book of the Seven Oceans.
Other activity
For many years, the polar explorer Peter Freichen has been a member of numerous geographical societies in different countries of the world. Everyone appreciated his undeniable contribution to the study of the Arctic. Among the main and eminent circles can be mentioned the International Society. Mark Twain, of which Freichen was an honorary member. He traveled the world with a series of lectures on Inuit culture. His merits as a writer and journalist were appreciated. He was a corresponding member of the Danish Arctic Institute. For several years, Peter Freichen held the high post of chairman of the Writers' Union of his native country. It should be said that the researcher showed himself well in the role of an actor. After all, often he himself found himself in the frame of documentaries about the harsh nature of the North. At first, he only accompanied the film expedition as an experienced guide. But later he himself began to comment on what the camera recorded. He also starred in several Hollywood films.
