Johan Peter Koch was a Danish captain and explorer of the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 dependencies of Denmark, born at Vestenskov.

He participated in Amdrup's expedition to east Greenland in 1900 and was one of the general staff of the surveying expeditions to Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 in 1903-1904.
In 1906-1908 he was a member of the Danmark expedition led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen

Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen

Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen was a Danish author, ethnologist, and explorer, from Ringkøbing. He was most notably an explorer of Greenland. With Count Harald Moltke and Knud Rasmussen he formed the Danish Literary expedition to West Greenland, and in the early stages discovered near Evigheds Fiord two...

, which mapped the last pieces of the northeastern coast of Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. On the death of Mylius-Erichsen and two others on a long sled voyage from Danmarkshavn

Danmarkshavn

Danmarkshavn is a small weather station located in the Northeast Greenland National Park, in Greenland. The permanent population of the base is 8. Danmarkshavn is also known as the northernmost location on the coast of Greenland Sea that non-icebreaking vessels can pass through...

 to Peary Land

Peary Land

Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland's mainland, and Cape...

, Koch along with the Greenlander

Kalaallit

Kalaallit is the contemporary term in the Kalaallisut language for the indigenous people living in Greenland, also called the Kalaallit Nunaat. The singular term is kalaaleq. The Kalaallit are a part of the Arctic Inuit people. The language spoken by Inuit in Greenland is Kalaallisut.Historically,...

 Tobias Gabrielsen searched for the lost party, and found only the Greenlander Jørgen Brønlund

Jørgen Brønlund

Jørgen Brønlund , was a Greenlandic polar explorer, educator, and catechist. He participated in two Danish expeditions to Greenland in the early 20th century.-Early years:...

 on whose body was recovered hand drawn charts which completed the map of Greenland.
Koch later led a sled expedition across the inland ice of Greenland in 1912-13.

Koch received, among other honors, the Vega medal of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography

Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography

The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography is a scientific learned society founded in Sweden in 1877...

. He became a member of the International Polar Commission.

Publications

• Meddelelser om Grønland, xxvi, xlvii (50 volumes, Copenhagen, 1876-1912)