Árdís - 01.01.1964, Page 33

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
31
"Sister lceland"
BY GEORGE HANSON
. . Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least
of these my hrethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Matthew 25, 40.
“Ólafía Jóhannsdóttir was the dearest friend I had ever
known. Future generations in Norway will call her name blesséd.”
Such were the words of Inge Björnson, niece of the great Nor-
wegian writer, Björnstjerne Björnson, at the passing of Ólafía
Jóhannsdóttir, or “Sister Iceland,” as she was known by many in
Norway.
At Mosfell on an immense heath to the north-east of Reykja-
vík, Ólafía Jóhannsdóttir was born on October 22, 1863, the
daughter of Rev. Jóhann Knut Benediktsson and Ragnheiður
Sveinsdóttir. Her mother’s brother was Benedikt Sveinsson, early
leader for the independence of Iceland and the father of the famous
poet, Einar Benediktsson.
Ólafía, the youngest child, was not raised with her parents
but with Ólafur Stephensen and Sigríður Þórðardóttir on the
island of Viðey just a short distance from Reykjavík. Ólafía loved
her foster parents and affectionately called her stepmother “frúin
mín.” As a child Ólafía loved to roam around the small island,
and she was sensitive to the beauties of nature. It was with
sadness that Ólafía bade farewell to the island in the summer of
1868 to go to Reykjavík to live with her aunt, Þorbjörg Sveins-
dóttir, one of the most outstanding women of her generation and
immortalized in one of Matthías Jochumsson’s most famous poems.
Ólafía grew up in the small but growing town of Reykja-
vík. The old house still stands at Skólavörðustíg 11, but it looks
strangely small and like a relic of a past generation among the
larger buildings of present day Reykjavík. Many opportunities
were opened to Ólafía to continue her education. She went as
far as the fourth class in the College (Latin School) in Reykjavík,
an unusual thing for a woman in those days.