Morten Pedersen Porsild

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Morten Pedersen Porsild (1872–1966) was a Danish botanist who lived and worked most of his adult life in Greenland. He partcipated in expeditions to Greenland in 1898 and 1902, together with the physiologist August Krogh. In 1906, he founded the Arctic Station in Qeqertarsuaq, West Greenland, since 1956 part of the University of Copenhagen. He got support from famous polar researchers like Knud Rasmussen, Mylius-Erichsen and Fridtjof Nansen. A private person donated the building and running cost were put directly on the Danish state budget. Morten Porsild managed the station for forty years. In 1946, he returned to Copenhagen. He was the father of Erling Porsild.

Apart from botany, Porsild contributed to zoology and ethnography. He also entered Greenland politics.

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Morten Porsild in his studio in the Arctic Station, Qeqertarsuaq/Godhavn, June 30, 1935; Photo by W. Thalbitzer

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