Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Categories: 1879 births | 1933 deaths | Explorers of the Arctic | Danish explorers | People of Greenland
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (June 7, 1879–December 21, 1933) was a Greenlandic polar explorer and anthropologist.
Rasmussen was born in Jakobshavn, Greenland. When on his first expedition in 1902–1904, "The Literature Expedition" with Jørgen Brønlund , Harald Moltke and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen to examine Inuit culture. In 1910 he established the Thule Trading Station at Cape York (Uummannaq), Greenland as a base. He went on several expeditions between 1912 and 1919, including travelling over the Viscount Melville Sound and crossing the Northwest Passage by dogsled.
From 1921 to 1924 he went on his famous "The Great Sled Journey" to collect and describe Inuit songs and legends. For that effort he gained a post at the University of Copenhagen.
He was also patron of the first long polar movie "SOS Iceberg" (directed by Leni Riefenstahl).
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