Samuel Kleinschmidt facts for kids
Samuel Petrus Kleinschmidt (born February 27, 1814 – died February 9, 1886) was an important linguist and missionary. He was born in Greenland and had both German and Danish heritage. Samuel Kleinschmidt is famous for his work on the Greenlandic language. He wrote many books about it and created the way it was written (called orthography) from 1851 until 1973. He also helped translate parts of the Christian Bible into Greenlandic.
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Samuel Kleinschmidt's Life Story
Samuel Kleinschmidt was born in a place called Lichtenau in southern Greenland, which is now known as Alluitsoq. His parents were missionaries from the Moravian Church. His father, Johann Konrad Kleinschmidt, was from Germany, and his mother, Christina Petersen, was from Denmark.
Early Education and Languages
When Samuel was young, he went to school in Kleinwelke, Germany. Later, he learned about pharmacy in Zeist, Holland. During this time, he studied many languages, including Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, French, and English. He already knew Danish, German, and Greenlandic from his childhood. This shows he was very good at learning languages!
In 1837, he worked as a teacher in Christiansfeld, Denmark, for a few years. Then, in 1841, he went back to Greenland.
Teaching and Language Work in Greenland
After returning to Greenland, Samuel Kleinschmidt quickly became known for his fluent and clear Greenlandic speaking. He gave his first sermon in Greenlandic just two years after coming back.
From 1846 to 1848, he taught in Lichtenfels (now called Akunnat). Later, he moved to Neu-Herrnhut, which is an old part of Nuuk, Greenland's capital.
Samuel Kleinschmidt finished writing his important book about Greenlandic grammar in 1845. It was published in 1851. This book was special because it didn't try to fit Greenlandic into the rules of Latin grammar. Instead, he created a new system that worked much better for the Greenlandic language itself. This grammar book also introduced the new way of writing Greenlandic that became the standard for over 120 years, until 1973.
In 1859, he joined the Church of Denmark, moving from the Moravian Church. He spent most of his time in Greenland working as a teacher, rather than a priest. He also translated a large part of the Bible into Greenlandic.
Samuel Kleinschmidt passed away in 1886 at the age of 72 in Neu-Herrnhut (now called Noorliit, part of Nuuk). He had lived in Greenland for 54 years of his life.
Samuel Kleinschmidt's Published Works
Samuel Kleinschmidt wrote several important books that helped people understand and write the Greenlandic language.
- 1968 (originally 1851): Grammar of the Greenlandic Language. This was his groundbreaking book on Greenlandic grammar.
- 1858: Nunalerutit, imáipoĸ: silap píssusianik inuinigdlo ilíkarsautíngui (Geography: A little book about the world and mankind). This book was about geography.
- 1871: The Greenlandic Dictionary. This was a dictionary of the Greenlandic language.
