Sigurður Vigfússon (archaeologist)

Gravestone of Sigurður Vigfússon and his wife Ólína

Sigurður Vigfússon (born September 8, 1828 on the farm Galtardalur, Dalasýsla ; † July 8, 1892 in Reykjavík ), also called Sigurður fornfræðingur ("Sigurður the ancient scholar"), was an Icelandic goldsmith and pioneer of archeology in Iceland .

Life

Sigurður grew up in poor circumstances on his parents' farm. At the age of 14 he had not yet attended school and was illiterate . Guðbrandur Vigfússon , later an eminent scholar, was his brother. Sigurður went to Copenhagen to learn the goldsmith's trade, and lived for several years in the Danish capital. After returning to Iceland, he worked as a goldsmith in Reykjavík for many years.

He began to study Icelandic archeology, and from 1878 worked in the " Icelandic Museum of Antiquities" ( Forngripasafnið ), which in 1911 became the National Museum of Iceland . From 1880 until his death he was director of the museum. As early as 1879 he was one of the founders of the Icelandic Archaeological Society ( Hið íslenzka fornleifafélag ).

Sigurður Vigfússon traveled to large parts of Iceland to do archaeological studies and tirelessly expanded the collection of the Museum of Antiquities. He published essays on archaeological topics mainly in the yearbook of the Archaeological Society.

He was married to Ólína María Jakóbina Bonnesen, whose father was district chairman of the Árnessýsla . The burial place of Sigurður and Ólína is in the Hólavallagarður cemetery in Reykjavík. The runic inscription on the tombstone, which is modeled on a rune stone , reads "Reykvíkingar reistu stein þennan yfir Sigurð son Vigfúsar, forstöðumann forngripasafnsins, og Ólínu Eiginkona hans"; translated: The Reykjavikers built this stone for Sigurður, son of Vigfús, director of the antiquities museum, and for Ólína, his wife.

literature

• Sigurðr Vigfússon . In: Fjallkonan . 9th year, no. 28 , July 12, 1892, p. 111-112 ( online at timarit.is ).
• Sigurður Vigfússon . In: Þjóðólfur . No. 33 , July 15, 1892, p. 130 ( online at timarit.is ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Gunnar Karlsson fjallar um Sigurð Vigfússon ( Icelandic ) Þjóðminjasafn Íslands. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. 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. Retrieved June 23, 2015. 
2. ↑ Rúnasteinninn yfir Sigurð forna ( Icelandic ) Kirkjugarðar Reykjavíkurprófastsdæma. Retrieved June 24, 2015.

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 .