Palle Huld

Who was Palle Huld?

Palle Huld was a Danish film actor and writer. He appeared in 40 films between 1933 and 2000. He was born in Hellerup in Denmark. His journey around the world at the age of 15 in 1928 reportedly inspired Hergé to create Tintin.

The Danish newspaper Politiken held a competition in honour of Jules Verne which was open only to teenaged boys. The winner would be assisted in a challenge to circumnavigate the globe within 46 days unaccompanied. They were allowed to use all forms of transport apart from aviation. There were several hundred applications for this competition. Huld was 15 at the time and working in a car dealership as a clerk. Huld left on his voyage on 1 March 1928, a journey that took him through the following countries, nameley: England, Scotland, Canada, Japan, Korea, China, The Soviet Union, Poland and Germany. In 44 days he made it back to Copenhagen to the cheers of a crowd of twenty-thousand. Shortly after his homecoming he made an additional journey to Sweden, England and France.