Augo Lynge

Augo Lynge
Danish Parliament Member
In office 1953 – 30 January 1959
Greenland National Council Member
In office 1951–1953
Chairman of the Nuuk municipal councils
In office 1934–1938
Nuuk Municipal Councils Member
In office 1930–1942
Personal details
Born	(1899-10-16)16 October 1899 Fiskenæsset, Nuuk, Greenland
Died	30 January 1959(1959-01-30) (aged 59) Cape Farewell, Greenland
Spouses	Qetura Heilmann (1925–1939) Emilie Lund (1940–1959; his death)
Children	9
Alma mater	Nuuk Seminarium

Augustinus "Augo" Telef Nis Lynge (born 16 October 1899 in Fiskenæsset (today Qeqertarsuatsiaat) – died 30 January 1959 off Cape Farewell, Greenland) was a Greenlandic politician, educator, poet, novelist and Kalaaleq nationalist who was the first Greenlandic representative in the Danish parliament and died during the sinking of the MS Hans Hedtoft.

Early life

Augustinus Telef Nis Lynge was born 16 October 1899 in the settlement Fiskenæsset (Qeqertarsuatsiaat) 130 km south of Godthåb (Nuuk) as the son of the local catechist Pavia Lynge (died 1943) and his wife Bendthea née Heilmann. He had five siblings.

School career

Lynge graduated from Godthåb Seminarium in Nuuk in 1921 as a teacher and went on to complete several courses at Jelling College from 1922 to 1923. He subsequently completed a special course in a school in Copenhagen from 1923 to 1924 before working as a teacher at Godthåb Seminarium. In 1930 Lynge went on to be a teacher at the Nuuk College.

Family

Augustinus Telef Nis "Augo" Lynge was son of senior catechist Pavia Lynge and Bendthea Lynge (née Heilmann). He had 5 siblings: Rosa, Vilhelm, Agnete, Marie and Magdaline. He married Qétura /Ketura (Qittuulaaraq) BSE Heilmann, born 4.12.1901 in Godthåb, daughter of the hunter A. Peter O. Heilmann and Martha Holm, on 12 July 1925 and had seven children by her; Lise, Martha, John, Marie, Astrid, Lars and Kunuk, his marriage ended in tragedy when Qetura died in 1939 at the age of 38. He remarried on 12 August 1940 to Emilie Lund and had two children by her: Helga and Augo, they remained married until Lynge's death in 1959.

Political career

Lynge started in politics in 1930 when he was elected to the municipal council in Godthåb, and became of the council in 1934. He ended his term as chairman in 1938 and also ended his term in the councils itself in 1942. In 1941 he also founded the youth association 'Nuvavta qitornai' which was founded to arouse the Greenlandic youth to greater political awareness and responsibility

Lynge was a member of the Danish parliament's Greenland Committee in 1939, 1945–1946 and 1951–1953. After that he was elected in 1951 to the National Council and its Greenland committee until 1953. He was by 1950 Greenland's leading political personality because of his political thoughts which were motivated by the desire to bring the Greenlanders out of stagnation, poverty, ignorance and disease by developing society and bringing it up to a modern standard in all areas of Greenland.

Lynge, along with Frederik Lynge, became the first Greenlandic representatives to the Danish parliament in 1953, during this time he also became Chairman of the Greenland People's Educational Association, a position he held until 1955. He remained a member of the Danish parliament until his death. In 1952 he became a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog.

Writing career

Lynge edited the journal "Tarqigssut" (The Lamp Trimmer) from 1934 to 1948, mainly for the youth association 'Nunavta qitornai' (The Children of Our Country), which he founded in 1941. The journal was also committed to political and social concerns. He also wrote the future-novel "Ukiut 300 ngornerat" (Greenland the 300th anniversary of Hans Egede's arrival) in 1931. The novel has been translated into Danish under the title Trehundrede år efter in 1989 and into French under the title Trois cents ans après. Grønlandshavn en 2021 in 2016. He also wrote a number of textbooks in zoology, geography and Greenland. He also wrote the poems Erinarsungaartarit nipit qiimasut anikkit, Nuannarisannik oqassaguma and Aalisartut qangatut ajornikuujumaarput.

Death

Lynge went on the maiden voyage of the MS Hans Hedtoft which sailed from Julianehaab, Greenland, to Copenhagen, Denmark, on 29 January 1959. However the next day, the ship collided with an iceberg about 35 miles (56 km) south of Cape Farewell. A few distress calls were sent out by the ship, but rescue ships didn't reach them in time and the ship sank on 30 January 1959.

Countless ships and helicopters were sent out to search for survivors or wreckage to no avail, the search was called off on 7 February 1959 and everyone's worst fears had come true. All 95 passengers and crew had perished. Neither any bodies nor the wreck of the ship has ever been found - just a lifebuoy discovered on the shore of Iceland, 9 months after the sinking, now in the church at Julianehaab.