Hannes Finnsson

Hannes Finnsson (born May 5, 1739 in Reykholt , † August 4, 1796 in Skálholt ) was an Evangelical Lutheran bishop of Skálholt in the south of Iceland . He was the last bishop who still had his seat there.

Life

Family and education

Hannes Finnsson was born in Reykholt as the son of the later Bishop of Skálholt Finnur Jónsson and his wife Guðríður Gísladóttir.

At the age of 16 he graduated from school in Skálholt in 1755 and finally went to Copenhagen to study at the university there. It was there that his varied interests and talents were shown, as he did not only study theology , but also natural sciences , economics and mathematics as well as Nordic philology . He proved to be very linguistically gifted and acquired a good knowledge of numerous foreign languages ​​such as Latin , Greek and Hebrew as well as the modern foreign languages French and German.

He took his final exam in theology in 1763. During his 12-year stay at the university, he made the acquaintance of numerous scientists.

Professional career and work

In 1767 Hannes returned home and stood by his father with various scientific work.

He had learned about the ideas of the Enlightenment in Copenhagen and became one of its proponents in Iceland.

In 1770 he went back to Copenhagen, where he worked for the next seven years in the field of Icelandic philology. He gave z. B. Medieval texts out as well as the extensive church history that his father had written. He himself described a trip to Stockholm in detail and published it in print.

In 1777 Hannes was ordained by Ludvig Harboe as the deputy bishop of Skálholt. From 1785 Hannes Finnsson took over the office of bishop from his father Finnur Jónsson. The bishop's seat was supposed to be moved to Reykjavík because of the destruction caused by an earthquake in Skálholt . But Hannes resisted this, bought the land and stayed there until the end of his life.

Marriage, Children and End of Life

Bishop Hannes married twice. His first wife was Þórunn Ólafsdóttir, but she died in 1786 during a smallpox epidemic. Her two sons also died young.

In 1789 he married for the second time. With Valgerður Jónsdóttir he had four children who all reached adulthood. The Finsen family descends from them; Hannes Finnsson called himself Finsen in Copenhagen.

During the last years of his life, Hannes wrote his two most famous works Um mannfækkun af hallærum á Íslandi and Kvöldvökur .

He died on August 4, 1796 in Skálholt of a sudden illness.

Works

• To mannfækkun af hallærum á Íslandi
• Kvöldvökur

See also

• History of Iceland

Web links

• Skálholt's website (Icelandic)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 16, 2010) 

predecessor	Office	successor
Finnur Jónsson	Bishop of Skálholt 1785 - 1796	Geir Vídalín

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .