Guldborg Chemnitz

Marie Guldborg Chemnitz (27 January 1919 – 2003), known as Guldborg Chemnitz, was a Greenlandic interpreter, politician, and women's rights advocate.

Early life and education Marie Guldborg Chemnitz was born on 27 January 1919 in Qassimiut to , an interpreter and member of the Greenland Provincial Council, and Kathrine Chemnitz, a women's rights activist, member of the Greenland Commission and a leading figure in the Union of Greenlandic Women's Associations. The eldest of six children, Chemnitz was the elder sister of , an interpreter and politician, and Lars Chemnitz, a politician.

In 1934, at the age of 15, she went to Denmark in order to learn Danish. Chemnitz also acted as a cultural mediator and research assistant for the jurists. Chemnitz was elected again in 1983, under the Atassut party.

In 1964, Chemnitz passed the , making her the first Greenlandic woman to do so. The same year Chemnitz settled in Copenhagen and worked as a translator at the Ministry of Greenland until 1968. Returning to Nuuk, Chemnitz continued her work as a translator at the Secretariat of the Greenland Council until 1972. During 1972 to 1975 Chemnitz was a translator at the Social Research Committee in Copenhagen. Chemnitz briefly worked as a consultant at APK during 1975 to 1976, before becoming the head of secretariat at the Greenland Education Association from 1976 to 1979. From 1979 to 1987, Chemnitz was an interpreter at the High Commissioner of Greenland.

Chemnitz was a chairman of the special Greenland Committee of the Danish Commission of the Status of Women in Society, and was a member of the Danish Equal Status Council. Chemnitz was associated with social research in Greenland and with aiding the understanding between Greenland and Denmark.

Awards In 1964, Chemnitz was awarded the Antonius Prize for her work to promote an understanding between Denmark and Greenland.

In 1987, Chemnitz was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog and in 1998 was awarded the Nersornaat in silver.

Personal life On 7 June 1942 Chemnitz married Finn Christoffersen (1915–1990), a sheep farmer, before later divorcing in 1954. Chemnitz and Christoffersen had four children, the youngest of whom died in infancy.