Matthías Jochumsson
Matthías Jochumsson (born November 11, 1835 at Skógar Farm in Þorskafjörður , Iceland ; † November 18, 1920 in Akureyri , Iceland) was Icelandic national poet and pastor.
Life
The writer was born into a poor family with many children and from the age of 10 came to various foster parents, where he had to help in agriculture.
His life took a positive turn when he started working for his parents' sponsors at the age of 16 on the then still rich island of Flatey . After proving himself proficient in many fields such as agriculture, fishing and also in business, he was financed to study economics abroad in Copenhagen .
This turned out to be a stroke of luck, because he also came into contact with cultural life and influential people such as Jón Sigurðsson and Steingrímur Thorsteinsson . Inspired and stimulated by this environment - he occupied himself with a. also with Shakespeare and Schiller - Matthías Jochumsson began to write and wanted to continue his education as a writer.
Since this was also known to his patrons in Flatey, after a while he was enabled to attend the secondary school ( Lærði Skólinn ) in Reykjavík as an adult and he graduated from high school in 1863. He then did a two-year training as a Protestant pastor and finished it in 1865.
He married and worked as a pastor on Kjalarnes , but lost his wife after two years. His second marriage also ended shortly after the tragic death of his wife.
These strokes of fate caused him to temporarily lose his bearings in life. He gave up pastoral work and traveled abroad, making his way in England, Denmark, Norway and other countries.
Eventually, however, he managed to regain a foothold in life, and he returned to Iceland in 1874. He was now editor-in-chief of the newspaper Þjóðólf , remarried and with the third wife had numerous children over the next few years.
In 1880 he finished his work as an editor and turned back to the priesthood. He became pastor at the traditional vicarage Oddi (Rangárvallasýsla), where Snorri Sturluson received his training from Jón Loftsson in the Middle Ages .
From 1887 to 1890 Matthías Jochumsson worked as a pastor in Akureyri . His house there, Sigurhæðir, is now a museum.
The writer died in Akureyri in 1920.
Works
His work is quite extensive and includes poetry, plays, prose and translations. The latter include translations of works by the world-famous writers Byron , Shakespeare and Ibsen .
Matthías Jochumsson started writing early.
He became known with the play Skugga-Sveinn , which is still popular today and which was first performed in high school in Reykjavík.
His real breakthrough came in 1874. The Danish King Christian IX came to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the settlement of Iceland . to the state visit. Numerous poems were written on the occasion of the celebration. Matthías Jochumsson's poem Lofsöngur (song of praise) “Ó, guð vors lands” , which was set to music by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson , achieved particular popularity . This is now the Icelandic national anthem.
He also composed a drama about Jón Arason, the last Catholic bishop in Iceland .
Matthías wrote poems in honor of famous Icelanders such as Eggert Ólafsson and Hallgrímur Pétursson , among many others .
He is also known for having written psalms and translated them into Icelandic, e.g. B. Closer, my God, to you ( Hærra mín guð til þín ).
Many of his poems and psalms were set to music.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Jón R. Hjálmarsson: Með þjóðskjáldum við þjóðveginn . Reykjavík 2004, pp. 69-74.
- ↑ a b Leikminjasafn Íslands, Icelandic; downloaded on November 4th, 2015
- ↑ Sigurhæðir Museum on the official website of Akureyri City, accessed on November 4, 2015.
Autobiography
- Sögukaflar af sjalfúm mér , published posthumously in 1922.
Web links
- When describing the national anthem, there is also more information about the poet
- To the Sigurhæðir Museum, English
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Matthías Jochumsson |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jochumsson, Matthías |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Icelandic national poet and pastor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 11, 1835 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Þorskafjörður , Iceland |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 18, 1920 |
| Place of death | Akureyri , Iceland |