Name J.P. Gregoriussen Role Poet | Died November 15, 1901 | |
Born 1 June 1845 ( 1845-06-01 ) | ||
J.P. Gregoriussen (Jóan Petur Gregoriussen, known as Jóan Petur upp í Trøð) (1 June 1845 in Kvívík, Faroe Islands – 15 November 1901) grew up with Joen Danielsen in Kvívík, when V.U. Hammershaimb was parish priest there. A poet and a writer, his poetry was well known in the Faroe Islands, e.g. "Brúðarvísan" ("The Wedding Ballad,") often sung at weddings. As well as being a poet, Gregoriussen was a sailor and a carpenter.
Awareness for the Faroese Language
Gregoriussen worked as a fisherman near Iceland from 1867 to 1870. While in Iceland he went to church and heard services conducted in Icelandic. From that point he became more aware of the fact that in the Faroe Islands Danish, not Faroese, was the official language in church and school. Gregoriussen was a devoted member of "The Faroese Association" (Føringafelag) after it was established at the Christmas Meeting (Jólafundurin) in 1888.