Despite Denmark’s strong influence, Iceland differed from Denmark in many ways. This is particularly evident in the case of Hans Jonathan, the first black person to ever settle in Iceland. Hans Jonathan escaped a life as a slave in Denmark and secretly settled in a remote Icelandic village – Djúpivogur. The villagers welcomed him, and he lived the rest of his life in freedom, becoming a merchant and raising a family.
That Hans Jonathan became an Icelander and a free man was only discovered (by the world outside of Iceland) in 2003, and his life story represents many hidden and forgotten destinies in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark’s role in the slave trade, and the right to self-determination for Iceland, will be central to my work and research.
