Egede, Hans

Related Category: Protestant Christianity: Biographies

(häns ā´gədə), 1686–1758, Norwegian Lutheran missionary, called the Apostle of Greenland. He went to Greenland in 1721 and, with the support of the Danish government, founded a mission for the Eskimo. He also helped to initiate trade between Denmark and Greenland. He returned to Copenhagen in 1736 to become principal of a seminary that trained missionaries for Greenland. His son, Paul Egede, 1708–89, also a missionary to Greenland, completed a translation of the New Testament for use by the Eskimo.