Wilhelm August Graah

Wilhelm August Graah (1793–1863) was a Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. Graah had mapped areas of West Greenland when he, in 1828–30, was sent on an expedition to the uninhabited eastern coast with the purpose to search for the lost Eastern Norse Settlement. The expedition set out from Copenhagen in the brig Hvalfisken, but - once arrived in Greenland - used umiaks able to navigate in the shallow waters between the coast and the sea ice. The expedition reached Dannebrog Islands (65° 18' N), but returned under great suffering and without having reached the inhabited areas in Tasiilaq. Two naturalists participated - the geologist Christian Pingel and the botanist Jens Vahl. Graah published an account of the exploration.^[1]

Literature

1. Graah, W. A. (1832). Undersøgelses-Reise til Østkysten af Grønland, efter kongelig Befaling udført i Aarene 1828-31 [Exploration of the East Coast of Greenland, by royal order executed in the years 1828-31] (in Danish). Copenhagen.

• English translation, Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland, London, 1837.

See also

• Cartographic expeditions to Greenland
• List of Arctic expeditions