Poet, novelist and politician born in Qeqertarsuatsiaat (Greenland) in 1899 – died in Godthåb (now Nuuk; Greenland) in 1959.
Augo Lynge, also known as Aggu Lynge, Avgo Lynge, Augustinus Lynge, or Augustinus Telef Nis Lynge, was born on October 16th, 1899 in Qeqertarsuatsiaat, a small fishing village located approximately one hundred kilometers south of Nuuk.
He was the son of Greenlandic catechist Pavia Benediktus Jakob Lynge (1874-1943) and of Bendtea Else Ane Louise Heilmann (1880-?), and the great-great-grandson of Arent Christopher Heilmann (1781-1830), a merchant and Royal Inspector of Greenland. Augo Lynge grew up in Alluitsoq (formerly Lichtenau), in southern Greenland. He was educated as a teacher at the Greenland Seminary (Ilinniarfissuaq) in Godthåb (now Nuuk), receiving his diploma in 1921. He continued his education in Denmark, enrolling at the Jelling Seminary and in a special course in Copenhagen in 1923-1924. He began to teach in public schools in Greenland in 1924, and in 1930 he accepted a teaching position at the Greenland Seminary while taking additional courses in Denmark in 1933-1934.
The beginning of the 1930s marked a turning point in Augo Lynge’s life: as he began teaching at the Seminary, he also kicked off his political career and published his first literary work, Ukiut 300-nngornerat (1931), which was the second novel published in Greenlandic (kalaallisut) in Greenland. Ukiut 300-nngornerat was reissued in 1959 and 1973 before being translated into Danish in 1989 under the title Trehundrede år efter, and into French in 2016 under the title Trois cents ans après. Grønlandshavn en 2021. This marked the beginning of Augo Lynge’s life as a committed intellectual; he was motivated by his desire to counter ignorance and lead Greenland towards modernity. He was elected to Godthåb’s communal council (1930-1942), which he chaired (1934-1938) before becoming a member of the Greenland National Council (Grønlands Landsråd) in 1939. His position allowed him to create the first sports association in Greenland, Aqissiaq, in 1933. He also promoted public debates, critical thinking, and the dissemination of information; his periodical Taqqisuut, published from 1934 to 1947, offered Greenlanders a forum for discussion, and his organization Nunavta qitornai (literally: “The children of our country”), founded in 1941, encouraged youth to stay informed. Augo Lynge also authored multiple essays and articles about zoology, geography and politics. In 1943, due to his activism, the colonial authorities transferred him to Egedesminde (now Aasiaat), 600 kilometers from his home. He was nevertheless elected to the Greenland National Council (which was replaced by a national government and parliament in 1979 when the country achieved autonomy) from 1951 to 1953. In September of 1952, in the hope of modernizing his country, he defended the idea that Greenland should be integrated into the Danish constitution as a province rather than a colony. On September 22nd, 1953, he became one of the two first Greenlandic members elected to the Danish Parliament (Folketinget), where he represented the south of Greenland. His political activism has since been recognized in both Denmark and Greenland: he was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1952, and today a street in Nuuk is named in his honour.
Augo Lynge died on January 30th, 1959 in the sinking of the MS Hans Hedtoft, which was meant to connect the port of Julianehåb (now Qaqortoq; Greenland) and Copenhagen; he was a victim of the dangers of winter navigation near Cape Farewell, about which he had warned two years prior to his death.