Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.04.2012, Side 16

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16 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • April 1 2012
PHoto: G. svErrIr Þór
When you travel the northern parts of Iceland, a visit to Akureyri is almost mandatory. Iceland’s most popu-lous town outside the Reykjavík metropolitan area,
with a population of close to 18,000, Akureyri is the cultural,
industrial and trade centre of northern Iceland and often referred
to as the capital of the north.
While, the most prominent building in this beautiful town
is the equally beautiful church that towers over the town centre,
the place that always attracts me is a small, discrete old wooden
house in the southern part of Akureyri. This beautiful house was
the childhood home of my boyhood hero. His name was Jón
Sveinsson but to most Icelanders he is simply known as Nonni.
Although he didn’t live there for very long, the house is now the
home to a museum dedicated to his memory.
Outside Iceland he is one of the most prominent Icelandic
writers and his recounts of his own childhood adventures have
enchanted young boys all over the world and sold millions of
copies in around 40 different languages. Amongst other things,
he fought polar bears, got lost at sea and harbored a fugitive – all
the ingredients required to write a successful adventure book.
Born in late 1857, Nonni was raised at Möðruvellir in
Hörgárdalur only a few kilometers outside Akureyri but at the
age of only twelve he took a last farewell of his widowed mother
and left Iceland for Copenhagen when a French nobleman de-
cided to pay for the education of two Icelandic boys. Due to a
war in Europe he had to stay in Denmark for one year before
enrolling in school in Amiens. After completing his education he
became a Jesuit priest, a teacher and, as previously mentioned, a
very successful writer. Nonni died at the impressive age of 86 in
Cologne, Germany, and after leaving his native country in 1870
he only returned twice.
Mini-tour:
The home of a hero
Nonni spent a part of his childhood in this beautiful house
LÖGBERG
HEIMSKRINGLA
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G. Sverrir Þór
Uppsala, Sweden