Jónas frá Hriflu

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Jónas Jónsson frá Hriflu (1934)

Jónas frá Hriflu ("Jónas von Hrifla", born May 1, 1885 as Jónas Jónsson on the Hrifla farm in the district of Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla ; † July 19, 1968 in Reykjavík ) was an Icelandic teacher, journalist, author and politician. For decades he was one of the most influential politicians in Iceland, and around 1916 he participated in the founding of both the Progress Party (rural center) and the Icelandic Social Democratic Party . From 1927 to 1932 he was Justice and Religion Minister and from 1934 to 1944 chairman of the Progress Party. The "Icelandic History for Children" written by him was used for a long time as a teaching aid in Icelandic schools and shaped the history of generations of Icelanders .

Life

youth

Jónas was born into a poor farming family in the Icelandic district of Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla , on the Hrifla farm in Bárðardalur . After this place of origin he was later known as "Jónas von Hrifla" - Icelandic Jónas frá Hriflu . His parents were Jón Kristjánsson and Rannveig Jónsdóttir, farmers on Hrifla. After graduating from secondary school in Akureyri and attending courses at the adult education center in Askov , Jutland , Jónas attended the Pedagogical University in Copenhagen from 1907 to 1908 . He continued his studies in Germany, France and at Ruskin College , Oxford . Jónas was able to study abroad through a scholarship from Althing after he was unable to attend high school in Reykjavík due to the poverty of his family.

School activity and party formation

Jónas worked from 1909 to 1918 as a teacher at what was then the Icelandic Teachers ' College ( Kennaraskóli , later Kennaraháskoli Íslands Pedagogical University ) in Reykjavík . Jónas was active in the trade union movement at this time and, together with Ólafur Friðriksson, was involved in the founding of the Icelandic sailors' union Hásetafélagið in 1915 , although neither Jónas nor Ólafur were seamen. Hásetafélagið became one of the strongest trade unions in Iceland. Jónas frá Hriflu and Ólafur Friðriksson were subsequently also in charge of founding the Icelandic trade union federation Alþýðusamband Íslands (ASÍ) in 1916 and its political arm, the Social Democratic Party of Iceland (Alþýðuflokkurinn) . However, neither of the two became the first party chairman, but Ottó N. Þorláksson .

Despite this commitment, Jónas frá Hriflu did not see his own political future in social democracy. The Icelandic historian Gunnar Karlsson describes Jónas in this context as a "man with ambitious plans" who was not satisfied with founding a single party, but wanted to create a completely new system with three parties. In this system he saw himself in a liberal center party, supported by a relatively strong social democratic party. So it happened that Jónas frá Hriflu also emerged in 1916 when the peasant progress party was founded . While she was seen by many members only as a representative of the interests of the farmers, Jónas wanted her to be understood as a liberal party and supporter of the cooperative movement. It should give the rural population a home "while the Brotherhood should take care of the workers in the towns and villages," said Halldór Guðmundsson .

In 1918 the board of the Icelandic cooperative association SÍS decided to set up a "cooperative school" (Samvinnuskólinn) for its members. It was opened in Reykjavík in 1919, with Jónas frá Hriflu as the first rector. He held this office until 1927 and again from 1932 to 1955. His concept for the cooperative school was based on Ruskin College , which he had attended himself. Today's University of Bifröst emerged from it.

MP, minister and party leader

From 1922 to 1949 Jónas frá Hriflu was a member of the Icelandic parliament Althing for the Progressive Party. In 1927 the Progress Party formed a minority government with the support of the Social Democrats . Until 1932 Jónas was one of the three members of this government. In addition to being responsible for justice and religion, his ministry also covered the areas of health, education and culture. Although he was not prime minister , Jónas was initially considered the “strong man” of this government. He saw the new coalition as a decisive step for a change of power from the secular and ecclesiastical aristocracy to the simple citizens.

Jónas was always a controversial figure. After lengthy arguments with a large number of Icelandic doctors, he was declared "insane" by the director of a psychiatric clinic - whereupon Jónas released him immediately. The bourgeois forces of Iceland, which had been united in the Independence Party since 1929 , saw in Jónas a "dangerous radical". The Icelandic writer Halldór Guðmundsson describes Jónas as an outspoken idealist who has dedicated himself to the concept of cooperatives, and as a nationalist "with the ambition to improve the living conditions of the broader population". His approach, which in some ways was reminiscent of the Italian fascists , is said to have led the Danish King Christian X. on his visit to Iceland to celebrate the millennium of the Althing in 1930 to say "So you are the man who plays little Mussolini in this country ?" to have. Jónas frá Hriflu, however, according to Halldór Guðmundsson, was not a fascist. However, his conflict-prone behavior made him unpopular. From around 1932, "this extraordinarily capable man" (Gunnar Karlsson) was considered politically isolated, even in his own party, although he held the party chairmanship from 1934 to 1944. Nonetheless, the so-called “national government”, a broad coalition of the Progress Party, Social Democrats and Independence Party (the opposition consisted only of the three members of the Socialist Party), existed from 1939 to 1942, as the intellectual product of Jónas frá Hriflu.

Writing and journalistic work

Jónas frá Hriflu was a prolific writer and published numerous books and articles in newspapers and magazines. His introduction to Icelandic history Íslandssaga handa börnum (“Icelandic History for Children”), first published in two volumes between 1915 and 1916, was reissued several times up to 1968. Jónas depicts the Icelanders as descendants of the most capable Norwegians, the heirs of strong, independent farmers who had evaded the oppression of the Norwegian King Harald I. Over the centuries the people have been shaped by the harsh nature of Iceland, creating a nation that is unique in the world.

He was editor-in-chief of various magazines, including from 1911 to 1917 the school paper Skinfaxi and the cooperative magazines Tímarit íslenzkra samvinnufélaga (1917–1925) and Samvinnan (1926–1928, 1931–1946). In his extensive journalistic work , literary and cultural topics have come to the fore since a series of articles on the novel His Own Herr von Halldór Laxness , which Jónas had published in 1936, whereby he “relentlessly towards everything and everyone that went against his grain Felde ”, says Halldór Guðmundsson, who also notes that Jónas' understanding of art belonged to the 19th century .

Conflict with Halldór Laxness

Jónas frá Hriflu had a particularly bitter, long-term dispute in the 1930s and 1940s with Halldór Laxness, who later won the Nobel Prize for Literature . The two warring Icelanders did appreciate each other initially. Around 1930 Laxness was still enthusiastic about Jónas' idealism and sided with him in a dispute with the Icelandic medical association. In May 1930, the Icelandic newspaper Tíminn (“Die Zeit”) published a “true hymn of praise” by Laxness on Jónas frá Hriflu. For his part, Jónas campaigned for the publication of Laxness' novel Salka Valka in a state publishing house in 1931/1932 .

On Salka Valka followed his own master , which Laxness drew an unflattering picture of the life of an Icelandic farmers. Jónas responded with a series of articles in which he praised Laxness 'writing skills and was fascinated by the main character Bjartur, but also harshly criticized the desolation of the people in Laxness' portrayal. Jónas expressed the view that the author was working with it "against his own people and the trials they have to endure".

In the following years, Halldór Laxness also made negative comments about Jónas frá Hriflu. His constant criticism of the publications of the publisher of the state cultural fund (Menningarsjóður) gained particular sharpness when Jónas acted as editor. A new edition prepared by Jónas of works by classical Icelandic poets commented Halldór Laxness to the effect that Jónas concealed his hatred of living authors by "making himself a kind of patron of deceased poets"; Jónas is "the largest necrophile in all of Iceland".

From 1941 to 1943, a dispute over the orthography in new editions of the Icelandic sagas took place in Iceland , in which Jónas frá Hriflu and Halldór Laxness appeared as opponents. While Laxness was involved in modern orthography issues, Jónas saw such an endeavor as an attack on Iceland's cultural heritage. The dispute culminated in the fact that Jónas tried to legally prohibit the modernized Saga editions and the parliament actually passed a law in his favor, but in 1943 the Icelandic Supreme Court ( Hæstiréttur ) ruled that it was not constitutional. The orthography dispute sealed a "deep enmity" between Halldór Laxness and Jónas frá Hriflu, which was to find expression in further disputes in the following years.

effect

Jónas frá Hriflu is considered one of the most influential Icelandic politicians of the interwar period . Organizations and parties he founded or shaped continue to play an important role in Iceland's social and political life. Both the Progressive Party and the Social Democratic Party or its successor party, the Alliance, were often represented in Icelandic governments. Jónas' “Icelandic Story for Children”, which was used in Icelandic schools for almost seven decades, shaped the historical image of many Icelanders. In a representative survey of the "most admired" deceased Icelanders from 1971, Jónas frá Hriflu took 9th place together with the Icelandic national poet Matthías Jochumsson (1835–1920) and the medieval poet, historian and politician Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241). The historian Guðmundur Hálfdanarson concludes that few politicians of the 20th century had such a lasting influence on the course of Icelandic history as Jónas frá Hriflu.

Personal

Jónas Jónsson frá Hriflu married in 1912 with Guðrún Stefánsdóttir (1885–1963), whose father was also a farmer in the district of Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla (on the Granastaðir farm in the Kaldakinn valley). The couple had two daughters.

literature

  • Guðjón Friðriksson: Saga Jónasar Jónssonar frá Hriflu. Iðunn, Reykjavík 1991–1993 (biography in three volumes)

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Betri heimild um Jónas en sögu lands og þjóðar . In: Tíminn . No. 29/2 , February 6, 1983, ISSN  1021-8459 , p. 4 ( online at timarit.is ).
  2. ↑ a b c Guðmundur Hálfdanarson: The A to Z of Iceland (=  The A to Z guide series . No. 299 ). The Scarecrow Press, Lanham / Toronto / Plymouth, UK 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-7208-0 , pp. 118 .
  3. ↑ Formenn ( Icelandic ) Framsóknarflokkurinn. Archived from the original on September 12, 2016. Retrieved on May 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Jónas Jónsson frá Hriflu ( Icelandic ) Alþingi. February 9, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  5. ^ A b Gunnar Karlsson: The history of Iceland . 2nd Edition. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2003, ISBN 0-8166-3589-7 , pp. 299 .
  6. ^ A b Gunnar Karlsson: The history of Iceland . 2nd Edition. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2003, ISBN 0-8166-3589-7 , pp. 300 .
  7. ^ A b c Gunnar Karlsson: The history of Iceland . 2nd Edition. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2003, ISBN 0-8166-3589-7 , pp. 303 .
  8. ↑ a b c d Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 286 .
  9. ↑ a b c History ( English ) Háskólinn á Bifröst. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  10. ^ A b c d Gunnar Karlsson: The history of Iceland . 2nd Edition. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2003, ISBN 0-8166-3589-7 , pp. 307 .
  11. ^ Jón R. Hjálmarsson: The History of Iceland . Iceland Review, Reykjavík 1994, ISBN 9979-51-093-5 , pp. 151-152 .
  12. ^ Catalog of the National and University Library of Iceland on leitir.is. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  13. ^ A b Eiríkur Bergmann Einarsson: Iceland and the international financial crisis . Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2014, ISBN 978-1-306-40924-7 , pp. 22 ( online at Google Books ).
  14. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 476-477 .
  15. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 508 .
  16. ↑ a b Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 287 .
  17. ↑ Halldór Laxness: Starf og stefna Jónasar Jónssonar frá Hriflu . In: Tíminn . No. 36 , May 31, 1930, ISSN  1021-8459 , pp. 130-132 ( online at timarit.is ).
  18. ↑ Halldór Laxness: Time to write (=  Ullstein book . No. 22412 ). Ullstein, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-548-22412-1 , pp. 188 .
  19. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 389-390 .
  20. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 487 .
  21. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 493-499 .
  22. ^ Halldór Guðmundsson: Halldór Laxness. A biography . btb, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-442-73918-9 , p. 499 .
  23. ↑ Guðmundur Hálfdanarson: The A to Z of Iceland (=  The A to Z guide series . No. 299 ). The Scarecrow Press, Lanham / Toronto / Plymouth, UK 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-7208-0 , pp. 118 (English): “One of the most influential politicians in Iceland in the interwar period”
  24. ^ Richard F. Tomasson: Iceland. The first new society . University of Minnesota Press / Iceland Review, Minneapolis / Reykjavík 1980, ISBN 0-8166-0913-6 , pp. 145 (In the evaluation, places 5, 7 and 8 were not assigned and three personalities who were also named equally ranked are directly ahead of place 9 to place 6.).
  25. ↑ Guðmundur Hálfdanarson: The A to Z of Iceland (=  The A to Z guide series . No. 299 ). The Scarecrow Press, Lanham / Toronto / Plymouth, UK 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-7208-0 , pp. 119 .
  26. ↑ Jónas er látinn . In: Tíminn . No. 149 , July 20, 1968, ISSN  1021-8459 , pp. 1 (Icelandic, timarit.is ).
  27. ↑ Not consulted for this article.
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 .
personal data
SURNAME Jónas frá Hriflu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jónas Jónsson (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Icelandic teacher, journalist, author and politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Hrifla, Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1968
Place of death Reykjavík
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 3, 2016 .