Árbók Landsbókasafns Íslands - Nýr flokkur - 01.01.1990, Page 92

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ENGLISH SUMMARY
Nokkur bréf íslendinga til Willards Fiskes. Finnbogi Guðmundsson bjó til
prentunar. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók. Nýr flokkur 14 (1988). Rv. 1990, pp.
26-34.
Several letters written by the American professor Willard Fiske (1831-1904) to
Icelanders were published in the year-book of the National Library of Iceland for
1982. The letters that are printed here were written by two prominent Icelanders
to Professor Fiske and are preserved in the Fiske Icelandic Collection, Cornell
University.
The first two letters were writen in 1880 and 1881 respectively by Mr Benedikt
Gröndal (1826-1907), poet, naturalist and teacher, and concern Professor
Fiske’s presentation of a microscope to Gröndal in order to help him in his
biological studies.
The remaining letters were written by Mr Einar Benediktsson (1864—1940),
the poet. In the first three of them, written in November 1879, March and
September 1880 respectively, he expresses his gratitude towards Fiske for books
he has sent him and mentions briefly a few events taking place at the time, mostly
relating to life at school. The two final letters were written by Einar Benediktsson
in the autumn of 1903, one in Kiel while he was on his way to Italy, and one in
Florence, where he had hoped to pay Professor Fiske a visit. He takes delight in
the beauty of the city and the wealth of the art treasures he has seen there in much
too short a time and hopes to be able to express his admiration in poems later on.
Nanna Ólafsdóttir: Halldóra Bjarnadóttir heimilisiðnaðarráðunautur. Lands-
bókasafn íslands. Árbók. Nýrfokkur 14 (1988). Rv. 1990, pp. 35-54.
Halldóra Bjarnadóttir (1873-1981) was one of the most important champions
of progress and cultural revival in Iceland in the 20th century. During her long
life she exerted as a teacher, editor and public adviser enormous influence in
several diíferent fields.
Halldóra Bjarnadóttir decided at an early age to become a teacher and as a
young woman she taught for five years in private homes. She soon realized that
her preparation for a teaching career was inadequate and as there was no
teachers’ training college in Iceland at that time, she went to Norway and received
her teacher’s certificate in 1899. After that she taught in the primary school in
Reykjavík, but returned to Norway in 1902 and held a post at a primary school in
Moss until 1908.
In 1908 she was appointed headmistress at the primary school in Akureyri, a
post she held for ten years. Being an excellent teacher and having acquired
valuable experience abroad, she soon started to introduce and champion new
ideas about the upbringing and education of children. She emphasized the
importance of domestic crafts such as needlework as well as physical exercise.
Her ideas spread quickly and their impact was soon felt elsewhere.
Between 1918 and 1922 she lived in Akureyri and offered courses in
needlework and other domestic crafts, but in 1922 she moved to Reykjavík and
taught in the teachers’ training college until 1930. From 1922 to 1957 her main
occupation was giving advice to the public in the field of domestic crafts. From
1917 to 1967 she edited the annual journal Hlín, and through that her
progressive ídeas were widely disseminated, but her other publications included
children’s books and books about embroidery.