MATTHÍAS JOCHUMSSON

Helgi Hálfdánarson was born in 1826. After graduating from the College in Reykjavik he studied Theology in the University of Copenhagen. He was ordained in 1854. In 1867 he became a professor on the staff of the Theological Seminary in Reykjavik. In 1885 he succeeded to the office of Principal, a post which he held till his death in 1894. A man of a sincere Christian character, a Lutheran of the old school, his influence lives on not least in the admirable translations of foreign hymns which he bequeathed as a legacy to the Icelandic Church.

This poet, whose name may be said to lead the company of those whose writings have marked the Icelandic literary revival of the nineteenth century, was born in the year 1835. He graduated from the Reykjavik College in 1863, and from the Theological Seminary two years later. He was ordained in 1867, and was for some time in charge of Akureyri, the metropolis of the North. He is still living as a pastor emeritus.