Georg Carl Amdrup

Vice-Admiral Sir Georg Carl Amdrup (November 19, 1866 – January 15, 1947) was a Royal Danish Navy officer and explorer.

Career In 1884, Amdrup, of the Royal Danish Navy, was sent to Amassalik. After wintering, he explored the coast to the north, including an examination of the Kangerlussuaq Fjord, known until then only from Inuit reports. He mapped a large length of coastline while collecting many geological and ethnological finds. By July 1885, he reached Aggas Island (67° 22' North), the furthest north of this survey.

Carlsbergfondet Expedition til Ost-Gronland Lieutenant Amdrup was the leader of a major Danish expedition in 1898-1900, the Carlsberg Foundation Expedition to East Greenland (Carlsbergfondet Expedition til Ost-Gronland). With him were botanist Christian Krause, ornithologist Knud Poulsen, and the sailors, A. Jakobsen and Soren P. Nielsen. They left Copenhagen on August 16, 1898, sailing from Copenhagen in the vessel Godthaab, and reaching Amassalik ("Angmagssalik") on 31 August. to use for future travel north.

During this expedition, Amdrup found the remains of a small, extinct Eskimo settlement. From this find, he brought to Denmark in 1899 a significant ethnographic collection. They arrived at Little Pendulum Island, before continuing to Cape Dalton (69°25 N) in mid July where they divided into two parties. While the expedition's second in command, Nikolaj Hartz, stayed with the Antarctic and examined the country up to Scoresbysund and fjords to the north, Amdrup endured great hardship and dangers further south in a small boat Aggas that navigated through the ice belt in the polar stream and mapped an uncharted route.

During the part of the expedition in Aggas, a long, wide open boat that carried Amdrup, three others including Ejnar Mikkelsen, plus of supplies, Amdrup found a dwelling containing the remains of 38 bodies, from which he inferred that Inuit had been trying to colonize the area. Amdrup and his men were even accused of killing the 38 people, but it was later ascertained that they had starved to death. Having established the fact that there were no other Eskimos on the eastern side of the island other than are known to the Danish missionaries, Amdrup's skeleton find was unusual. Part of the natural history collection that Amdrup brought back included a live musk ox and ten lemming.

Danmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast, 1906-1908 From 1905, Amdrup worked as an Adjutant to his friend, Prince Valdemar of Denmark. He was a member of the Committee for the Denmark expedition to Greenland's northeast coast 1906-1908, and, as the expedition historian, Amdrup wrote the expedition history in the "Notice of Grønland", XLI.

Later life In 1913, he was appointed to the Greenland Commission, From 1927, he was Vice Admiral Sir Georg Amdrup. He also received other medals from several foreign geographical societies, including the Royal Geographical Society in 1902, and the Royal Geographical Society's Back grant. In 1913, Mikkelsen dedicated his book, Being the story of the 'Alabama' expedition, 1909-1912 to Amdrup.

Amdrup Land in northeastern Greenland was named after him by the Denmark expedition. Another landform named in his honor is Amdrup Fjord .

The Shipbuilding & Engineering Company's ship G.C. Amdrup is also named for him. Also named on his behalf is Leptognathia amdrupii, which was considered for transfer to the genus Chauliopleona by 2000 and transferred to Chauliopleona amdrupii by 2005.