Kaj Birket-Smith


Kaj Birket-Smith was a Danish philologist and anthropologist. He specialized in studying the habits and language of the Inuit and Eyak. He was a member of Knud Rasmussen's 1921 Thule expedition. In 1940, he became director of the Ethnographic Department of the National Museum of Denmark.

Personal life

Kaj Birket-Smith was the son of Danish librarian and literary historian Sophus Birket-Smith and wife, Ludovica. He received his PhD in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1937. He was a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.
In 1920, Kaj and Minna Birket-Smith wed. Kaj Birket-Smith died in 1977, aged 84.

Awards

Partial works