Johan Carl Christian Petersen

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For the Danish politician, see Carl Petersen

Johan Carl Christian Petersen (June 28, 1813 in Copenhagen - June 24, 1880 in Copenhagen) was a Danish seaman and interpreter who participated in several expeditions in Northern Canada and Greenland in search of the missing British explorer John Franklin.

At the age of about 20 he moved to Godthåb (now Nuuk) in Greenland where he made a living as a carpenter and sailor. In 1841 he moved to Upernavik, at the time the most northern Danish colony in Greenland. There he married a native Inuit and took on their costumers and way of living, in the process became quite a skilled hunter, dog sledge driver and observer.

He worked on William Penny's Expedition (1850-51), Elisha Kane's Second Grinnell Expedition (1853-1855) into Kane Basin, Francis Leopold McClintock Expedition (1857) and Isaac Israel Hayes North Pole Expedition (1860-61). He wrote two book about these expeditions.

On Kane's expedition he worked together with the young Eskimo Hans Hendrik who has Hans Island named after him.

After these expeditions he moved back to Denmark.

[edit] Writing

• Erindringer fra Polarlandene opegnede af Carl Petersen, tolk ve Pennys og Kanes nordexpeditioner, 1850-55, Copenhagen, P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1857.
• Den sidste Franklin-expedition med "Fox", Capt. M'Clintock, Copenhagen, F. Wøldikes Forlagsboghandel, 1860.