# Hark Olufs

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**Hark Olufs** (17 or 19 July 1708 – 13 October 1754) was a [North Frisian](/source/North_Frisians) [sailor](/source/Sailor) from [Denmark–Norway](/source/Denmark%E2%80%93Norway). He was captured by Algerian pirates and sold into slavery. By successfully working as a slave servant to the Bey of Constantine, he eventually obtained his freedom from captivity.

## Life

Hark Olufs was born the son of a [nautical captain](/source/Captain_(nautical)) named Oluf Jensen on either 17 or 19 July in 1708 on the [North Frisian](/source/North_Frisian_Islands) island of [Amrum](/source/Amrum), which then belonged to [Denmark](/source/Denmark). In 1721 he became a seaman on the *Hoffnung*, a ship belonging to his father.

In 1724, on a voyage from [Nantes](/source/Nantes) to [Hamburg](/source/Hamburg), Olufs’ ship was seized by [Algerian pirates](/source/Barbary_corsairs) and he and his two cousins were taken hostage. Olufs' family could not afford the high price demanded in ransom by the [Barbary slave traders](/source/Barbary_slave_trade) for his release. Because the ship had been sailing under Hamburg colours, the family's request for a loan from the slavery fund of the Danish Kingdom was rejected.

Subsequently, Olufs was sold as a slave on [Algiers](/source/Algiers)' slave market. From 1724 to 1727/28 he was a slave servant of the [Bey](/source/Bey_(title)) of [Constantine](/source/Constantine,_Algeria) and advanced in responsibility to become the Bey's [treasurer](/source/Treasurer). Between 1728 and 1732 he was made [Commander](/source/Commander) of the Life Guards. In 1732 he became *Agha ed-Deira*, [Commander in Chief](/source/Commander_in_Chief) of the local [cavalry](/source/Cavalry). In 1735, he took part in the conquest of Tunis by the Algerian army during the disposal of [Al-Husayn I ibn Ali](/source/Al-Husayn_I_ibn_Ali). As a reward, Olufs was released on 31 October and allowed to return to Amrum.[1] In 1747 he published an [autobiography](/source/Autobiography) in [Danish](/source/Danish_language), which was translated into [German](/source/German_language) in 1751. Hark Olufs died on 13 October 1754, in Süddorf on Amrum. His headstone is still visible in the [graveyard of Nebel](/source/Talking_Gravestones_of_Amrum).

## Legacy

Hark Oluf's life was chronicled in a [biographical novel](/source/Biographical_novel) in 2010:

- Weinbörner, Udo (2010). *Der General des Bay. Das abenteuerliche Leben des Amrumer Schiffsjungen Hark Olufs* (in German). Bad Honnef: Horlemann. ISBN 978-3-89502-299-9.

## See also

- [Turkish Abductions](/source/Turkish_Abductions)
- [Sklavenkasse](/source/Sklavenkasse)

## References

1. Rheinheimer 2001

## Sources

- ["*Ein Amrumer Schicksal im 18. Jahrhundert*"](http://www3.ndr.de/ndrtv_pages_std/0,3147,OID2000300_REF9730,00.html) (in German). Die Geschichte Norddeutschlands - Im Zeichen des Kreuzes. [Norddeutscher Rundfunk](/source/Norddeutscher_Rundfunk). 13 March 2007. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080317122011/http://www3.ndr.de/ndrtv_pages_std/0,3147,OID2000300_REF9730,00.html) 17 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- Klarer, Mario (2022). [*Barbary Captives: An Anthology of Early Modern Slave Memoirs by Europeans in North Africa*](https://books.google.com/books?id=BNkuEAAAQBAJ). [Columbia University Press](/source/Columbia_University_Press). ISBN 978-0231175258.
- Olufs, Hark. ["*Harck Olufs,... Besynderlige AVANTURES,...* (Autobiography)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070914110447/http://web.sdu.dk/mrh/autdan.htm) (in Danish). Martin Rheinheimer. Archived from [the original](http://web.sdu.dk/mrh/autdan.htm) on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- Rheinheimer, Martin (2007). *Der fremde Sohn. Hark Olufs' Wiederkehr aus der Sklaverei. (The alien Son. Hark Olufs' Return from Slavery.)* (in German). 3rd ed. Wachholtz. ISBN 978-3-529-02775-8.
- Rheinheimer, Martin (2001). ["Hark Olufs and the Barbary States"](https://archive.today/20130106092839/http://www.web.sdu.dk/mrh/background.htm). [University of Southern Denmark](/source/University_of_Southern_Denmark). Archived from [the original](http://www.web.sdu.dk/mrh/background.htm) on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2008.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hark Olufs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark_Olufs) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark_Olufs?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.