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Helle Mathiasen
September 1, 2003 Helle Mathiasen became Director
of Medical Humanities, University of Arizona College of
Medicine. Her responsibility is to bring speakers and other
cultural events to the College of Medicine in order to help broaden
the medical students education in the Humanities, including art, ethics,
film, history, literature, and music. This mission is based on the premise
that medicine is an art, sharing several characteristics with the other arts.
Mathiasen has a Cand. Mag. (Masters Degree) in English and Ancient Greek
from the University of Copenhagen and a Ph.D. in English from Tufts University,
Medford, Massachusetts. From 1993-2003 she taught in the University of Arizona Humanities Program and in the Boston College Honors Program from 1978 -1993.

Helle Mathiasen was born in Vangede, near Copenhagen, in 1940 and as a young child experienced the occupation of Denmark by the Germans. In 1965 she married a Fulbright student in marine biology and she emigrated to Boston the same year. For the past ten years she and husband Joseph S. Alpert, MD, have lived in the Catalina Foothills in Tucson. They have two children, Elisabeth (b. 1967) and Niels David (b. 1968).

Helle Mathiasen is an author who has published articles on Kaj Munk (1898-1944), Danish playwright and pastor, who was shot by Nazis because of his outspoken resistance to the Occupation. The Dictionary of Literary Biography has published her illustrated biographies of Hanne Marie Svendsen (1933- ), Marie Bregendahl (1867-1940), and Thomasine Gyllenbourg (1773-1856), all well known authors in Denmark but not in the United States. She is active in the Danish Club of Tucson whose members assisted her in the exhibit, AHans Christian Andersen: The Power of Story@ in the spring of 2000.

Condensed by Ivan E, Nielsen from article by Helle Mathiasen, Ph.D.
Complete story available from President, Danish Club of Tucson, 520-296-5798.

Helle Mathiasen

Henning Jensen
Musician Teacher & Philosopher.

Henning Jensen was born March 21-1926 in Aarhus Denmark and arrived in North America one year later with he�s parents.

DR. Jensen�s formative years was spent in British Columbia Canada but eventually ended up in Tucson Arizona with a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard and via 6 major Universities including a Fulbright Professorship to lecture in Austria and guest lecturer in Copenhagen. DR. Jensen�s specialty is Business Ethics and Media Ethics.

DR. Jensen is an accomplished violinist and was concertmaster at the Vancouver BC Canada Symphony Orchestra.

Dr Jensen Retired from The University of Arizona in 1991 and resides with he�s wife Audrey in Tucson.

Should you need further information on DR Jensen please refer to �Attracted to America� edited by Ivan Nielsen and published by Lur Publication Danish Emigrant Archives Dana College Blair NE. Available from the Danish Club of Tucson phone 520.575.0454 .

MORE... Henning Jensen was born March 21, 1926 in Aarhus, Denmark. When he was fifteen months old, he and his parents left Denmark and immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia. In their new land it was difficult for new immigrants to find work. After two difficult years in Vancouver their savings were exhausted and his father, in desperation, turned to logging. Henning grew up in poverty during the depression years of the thirties. For his sixth birthday, he received a gift from a Danish immigrant friend which would change his life forever. It was a half-size violin with a label inside which read, AA. Stradivarius. From the moment he received the violin, music, especially violin playing, became the very center of his life. At age fifteen he became a violin teacher to ten students in his area and by the time he was sixteen he played professionally with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

After earning a bachelor of arts degree at the University of British Columbia, he went on to graduate study, completing a Ph.D in philosophy at Harvard University. He chose the field of ethics as a specialty within philosophy. Henning was a professor of philosophy at six major universities, including the Karl-Franzens-Universit�t Graz in Austria where he held a Fullbright Professorship At the time of the famous Eichmann trial for Acrimes against humanity, Henning was on a panel on public radio devoted to this topic.

Henning taught philosophy at the University of Arizona beginning in 1963. During this time he introduced classes in applied ethics which included new courses in business ethics and media ethics. He retired in 1991 from the University of Arizona as Emeritus Professor of Philosophy.

Condensed by Ivan E. Nielsen from article by Henning Jensen, Ph.D. His
complete story is in the book, Attracted to America, edited by Ivan E. Nielsen, and published by Lur Publications, Blair, Nebraska.

Available by calling 520-575-0454 or inielsen@aaahawk.com

Dr. Eskild A. Petersen

Born in Copenhagen Denmark June 1946 he's received his MD from the University of Copenhagen in January 1972. He spent time studying leprosy in India and had an opportunity to visit many countries in South East Asia, including Singapore, Burma, and Nepal. He then returned to the Infectious Disease Hospital at the University of Copenhagen. Dr. Petersen Emigrated to Tucson in 1972 where he began his internship at the Tucson Hospitals Medical Education Program. Central America, Costa Rica, saw him on a study trip in July 1973 and from there flew to England to complete a Tropical Medicine and Hygiene diploma course. Then back to Copenhagen at the Infectious Disease Hospital and in the same year he began his fellowship in Infectious Disease at the University of Arizona. During 1977 Dr. Petersen joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Section of Infectious Disease and has been affiliated with the University of Arizona since that time. Dr. Petersen was honored as a Visiting Scholar at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland where he worked in parasitic infections.

As a world traveler and researcher, he has spent time in Sudan, Ethiopia, Central Asia and Russia. He is currently the Chief of the Section of Infectious Disease at the University of Arizona as well as the Associate Head of Medicine and is also the past chief of Staff at the University Medical Center.

by: Ivan Nielsen
Danish Club of Tucson

Curt Pedersen
Automotive Engineer, Cultural and Ethnic Researcher.

Curt Pedersen (Curt Andr� Charles Pedersen) was born June 20, 1928 in Aarhus Denmark and emigrated to North America in the early spring of 1951.

Mr. Pedersen worked for a large American Truck manufacturer �Mack Trucks� from 1954 to 1987 and retired Director of Engineering in the International division after a very interesting career traveling the world. Mr. Pedersen arrived in Tucson in March 1997 and quickly became involved in the City�s many multi ethnic activities.

He was elected to two terms as the president of the Danish Club of Tucson . Is on the board of the European Multicultural Alliance of Tucson 2001. Served as the EMAT chair for The Tapestry Project and helped raise the money for that City led project.

He was elected to the Advisory board of �The Cultural Exchange Council� which in turn, funds, direct and support the �Tucson Meet Yourself� annual festival, the �Waila Festival", the �Old Time Fiddlers Festival,� and numerous other Cultural and ethnic activities in our city.

Mr. Pedersen started the Arizona Chapter of the �Rebild Society� a Danish American friendship society that in turn was started in Chicago in 1912. Rebild has Chapters in nearly all the 50 states and in Denmark; Curt is a member of the international board of Directors of that Society.

Mr. Pedersen was elected to the Board of directors of The Danish Immigrant Museum located in Elk Horn Iowa and has been instrumental in promoting Scandinavian culture and heritage, by funding, through the Danish Club of Tucson and the other Scandinavian clubs and the CEC in bringing The Danish Royal Quartet and the 3 Royal Tenors to entertain us in Southern Arizona.

Curt is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the King and past president of Church Council.

Should you need further information on Curt Pedersen please refer to �Attracted to America� edited by Ivan Nielsen and published by Lur Publications Emigrant Archives Dana College Blair NE. available from the Danish Club of Tucson.
phone 520.575.0454 , or, visit www.rebildazchapter .com.

Jorgen V. Hansen

Jorgen V. Hansen was born in Odense, Denmark in 1946. He immigrated to the United States in 1972 and lived in Phoenix, Arizona for five years. He decided to move to Tucson where he opened a furniture retail store and named it Copenhagen Imports. The store imports contemporary furnishings and accessories from Denmark and around the world. Located at 3660 E. Fort Lowell Road, the store features a showroom of more than 40,000 square feet. More information on the store is available on the web site www.copenhagenimports.com. Jorgen Hansen is a strong supporter of many local arts and charity programs including Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Tucson, University of Arizona College of Fine Arts, Angel Charity for Children, Boys and Girls clubs, Steele Memorial Childrens Research Center, as well as a member of local organizations such as the Danish Club of Tucson, and Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. He is a former board member of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona.

Article by Jorgen V. Hansen. Revised by Ivan E. Nielsen, Danish Club of Tucson.

Michael Lawrence Tophoj
Tucson Builder & Contractor.

Born in Hirtshals Denmark Nov 23, 1882 and emigrated to America in 1901 he worked in San Francisco as a carpenter and experienced the 1905 devastating earthquake in that city. Mr.Tophoj moved to Tucson Arizona in 1907 and built houses for individuals on a contract basis. In 1912 Tucson boasted a population of about 13,000 people. Michael Tophoj married Daisy E. Richardson in 1912 and the same year received the contract to build the Arizona Hall at the University of Arizona. In addition to other contracts Mr.Tophoj was awarded the contract to build the first stone bridge over the Pantano Wash and also build the Steinfield hardware store on Stone Avenue. The Tophoj�s lived at 940 N. 4th Ave. in Tucson occupying it for 60 year�s, the house still stands there to this day. Mr.Tophoj started the Tucson Contractors Association, which later became the Arizona Building Contractors Association. He was a lifelong member of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce, The Old Pueblo Club, and Grace Episcopal Church in Tucson. Michael Lawrence Tophoj Died October 30 1984 at the age of 102 years.

If you would like to know more about this Gentleman please refer to the Book �Attracted to America� edited by Ivan Nielsen and publishes by Lur Publication Danish Emigrant Archives Dana college Blair NE. Available from the Danish Club of Tucson phone: 520.575.0454 - Curt Pedersen

Olaf Weighorst
The Premier Western Artist

Known as �The Dean of Western Art� he was born in Viborg Denmark April 30, 1899. Olaf was introduced to horses at age 3 by his father and later worked as a stunt rider for a Danish Circus; he�s entire life was therefore linked to horses. As a boy he loved sketching. He sold his first oil painting in Denmark when he was only 12 years old. Olaf arrived in America as a penniless emigrant in 1918. Almost 19 years old, he enlisted in the US Cavalry which he spent in Douglas AZ and at Fort Lowell AZ. He later went back to New York and joined the New York mounted police. He was a rugged individual and closely connected to the American West and Arizona where a lot of his famous paintings were done. Olaf was a very good friend of the local artist Mr.De Grazia and considered Tucson he�s second home. Weighorst and DeGrazia had a common love for the local Arizona native tribes and spent a lot of time on the nearby reservations studying the traditions and the native�s natural born horsemanship. Weighorst was a perfectionist and insisted on absolute impeccable details in all his paintings. Olaf Weighorst spent the remainder of his life in El Cajon CA where he died in 1988.

Among the famous Americans who owns his paintings were Presidents Reagan, Ford, Nixon, and Eisenhower; Senator Barry Goldwater, J.P. Morgan, Leonard Firestone, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood.

Excerpts from the Weighorst museum and from other writings i.e. Northwest Orient Magazine published April 1987 was compiled by Ivan Nielsen and Curt Pedersen about this famous Danish American Artist. Picture Courtesy of The De Grazia Studio in the Sun.

MORE... Olaf Wieghorst was born in Denmark in 1899 and became interested in oil painting at an early age. At age 12 he exhibited and sold his first oil painting. He had a great urge to get to the American West but had difficulty getting a passport because he was registered for the draft. Finally, in 1918, he was given permission to work on the Danish ship, United States, for six months. When the ship docked in New York on New Years Eve, the 19 year old Olaf left the ship and became lost in the crowd in New York City. He joined the U. S. Cavalry and later served 20 years on the New York City Mounted Police Force. After moving west he continued his interest in horses and his oil painting. When he became established as an outstanding painter of western scenes, especially horses, cowboys, and the Navajo people, he and his wife Mabel often visited the ranch land of a friend in Montana and he and his friend liked to ride the trails around Tucson. Information supplied by Olaf Wieghorst's son Roy, states that his father had a great love for the American Southwest, in particular the area around Tucson. He owned land in both Tucson and Sonoita.

In 1981, the Tucson Museum of Art and Friends of Western Art gave Olaf Wieghorst a respectory showing of his work, according to Roy Wieghorst. Olaf Wieghorst also attended a showing of his paintings at the Desert Gallery of Kathal Wales in Tucson. Olaf Wieghorst died in 1988.

Submitted by Ivan E. Nielsen, Danish Club of Tucson, 520-575-0454

Additional information may be found in an article in the Northwest Orient, April l984, titled AThe Americanization of Olaf Wieghorst@, written by Ginger K. Renner. More information may be found in newspaper articles and book titled, Olaf Wieghorst located in the Reference Section, Tucson City Main Library.

by: Ivan Nielsen & Curt Pedersen

Henning Jensen

Curt Pedersen

Dr. Eskild A. Petersen

D e n m a r k

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