Eigil Knuth
| Eigil Knuth | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Eigil Knuth August 8, 1903 Klampenborg, (near Copenhagen, Denmark) |
| Died | March 12, 1996 (aged 92) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Resting place | Bispebjerg Cemetery, in Copenhagen |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Known for | Explorer, archaeologist, sculptor and writer |
| Title | Count |
Count Eigil Knuth (8 August 1903 – 12 March 1996) was a Danish explorer, archaeologist, sculptor and writer. He is referred to as the Nestor ("elder statesman") of Danish polar explorers. His archaeological investigations were made in Peary Land and adjacent areas of High Arctic Greenland. Knuth was made a Knight of the Dannebrog.
Knuth was born in Klampenborg, near Copenhagen in Denmark. His parents were count Eigil Knuth sr, a captain, and Djimphna (née Gamel).
His hero was the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen who, in 1888, was the first to cross the Greenland ice cap; the trip was financed by State Councillor Augustinus Gamel, a Danish businessman, and Knuth's maternal grandfather. Gamel's birth gift to his grandson was a present Gamel had received from Nansen: the compass Nansen carried on his Greenland icecap expedition.
Knuth studied building technology at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and then woodcarving at Val Gardena in Italy between 1926 and 1928. He published his first book, on the subject of philosophy, in 1927, revealing an affinity with the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. In 1932, Knuth graduated as a gymnastics teacher from Ollerup Physical Training College in Denmark.
Knuth first trip to Greenland occurred in 1932 accompanying Dr. Aage Roussel from the National Museum of Denmark on an archaeological dig to excavate old Norse sites on West Greenland's coast. Knuth spent the next two years as an art critic for the Copenhagen newspaper Dagens Nyheder.
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