Portal:Faroe Islands/Selected biography

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Selected biography

Portal:Faroe Islands/Selected biography/1

Niels Ryberg Finsen (15 December 1860 – 24 September 1904) was a Faroese-Icelandic physician and scientist. In 1903, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology "in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science." (Full article...)

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Portal:Faroe Islands/Selected biography/2

Kaj Leo Johannesen (born 28 August 1964 in Streymoy, Faroes) was the Faroese prime minister from 2008 to 2015, representing the Faroese Unionist Party (Sambandsflokkurin). He took office, succeeding Jóannes Eidesgaard on 26 September 2008. Before becoming Prime Minister, Johannesen was a member of the City Council of Tórshavn 1997-2000, representing the Faroese Unionist Party (Sambandsflokkurin).

Johannesen is also a former international football player; he got 4 full international caps for the Faroe Islands national football team in 1991-1992, including one in Euro-92 and two in World Cup-94 qualifiers. He was reserve goalkeeper in more than 20 international matches in the period between 1989 and 1995 and holds the record for playing most matches for the football club HB Tórshavn.

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Portal:Faroe Islands/Selected biography/3 Sigmundur Brestisson (961 – 1005) was the first Faroe-man to convert to the Christian faith, bringing Christianity to the Faroes at the decree of Olaf Tryggvason. He is one of the main characters of the Færeyinga saga.

According to the Færeyinga saga, emigrants who left Norway to escape the tyranny of Harald I of Norway, settled in the islands about the beginning of the 9th century. Early in the 11th century, Sigmundur, whose family had flourished in the southern islands but had been almost exterminated by invaders from the north, was sent back to the Faroe Islands, whence he had escaped, to take possession of the islands for Olaf Tryggvason, king of Norway.

At first Sigmundur tried to Christianize the Faroe Islanders, on decree of the Norwegian king, by bringing the order to the Alting in Tórshavn, but was nearly killed by the angry mob. He then changed his tactics, went with armed men to the residences of the chieftain Tróndur í Gøtu, broke in his house by night and gave him the choice between Christianity or beheading. That worked.

According to tradition, his gravestone is located in the so-called Sigmundarsteinur in Skúvoy. It bears a carved cross and was part of the old church.

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Portal:Faroe Islands/Selected biography/4

Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb (March 25, 1819 – April 4, 1909) was a Faroese Lutheran minister who established the modern orthography of Faroese, the language of the Faroe Islands, based on the Icelandic language, which like Faroese derives from Old Norse.

Hammershaimb created his spelling system for Faroese in 1846. It was etymological, with the vowels based on written Icelandic, rather than phonetically descriptive (as in for example Welsh.) For instance, the letter Eth (Ð) has no phonemes attached to it. In this Hammershaimb had accepted the advice of the Icelandic independence leader Jón Sigurðsson, who had seen the manuscript for his "Bemerkninger med Hensyn til den Færøiske Udtale" (Notes with Respect to Faroese Pronunciation); Hammershaimb considered that despite its artificiality, this was the only approach that would overcome the problems of differing dialects in the islands.

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