Sveinn Pálsson's travelogue # 69282
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Sveinn Pálsson's travelogue. Diaries and essays. 1791-1797.
Sveinn was born at Steinsstaðir in Tungusveit in Skagafjörður, the son of Páll Sveinsson, a farmer and goldsmith, and Guðrún Jónsdóttir, a housekeeper. He was sent to school and graduated from Hólaskóli in 1782. The following year he was a seaman, but then began medical studies with Jón Sveinsson, the medical director, and stayed with him for four years. He then went to Copenhagen and studied medicine at Hafnarfjörður for four more years, but did not complete his degree. He also studied natural sciences and received a three-year travel grant from the Danish Natural Sciences Society in 1791 to go to Iceland and conduct research. He had intended to return to Copenhagen and complete his studies, but this did not happen.
He traveled around Iceland from 1791-1794, working on various studies and sending his results to Copenhagen, but did not receive the extension of the grant he had hoped for, and had to turn his full attention to farming and medical work, which he had, however, pursued in addition to his travels. On October 4, 1799, he was appointed quartermaster in the Southern Highlands and was to look after Árnessýsla, Rangárvallasýsla, Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla and the Vestmannaeyjar Islands. For this he received an annual salary of 66 crown dollars, which was considered very meager and he had to row to fish in the winters in addition to medical work and farming.
When Sveinn was 33 years old, he married Þórunn, the daughter of Bjarni Pálsson, a medical officer of the Icelandic province, who was a great source of energy and largely looked after the farm at all times. They had 15 children, but 10 survived, so the household was burdened and it was difficult to support this large group. Sveinn often tried to improve his conditions, but he did not even get an official residence, which was supposed to accompany his job, until after more than ten years of struggle; then he received half the land in Vík free of charge for his residence. In 1816, however, conditions improved significantly and Sveinn then received 300 crown dollars in annual salary.
Sveinn is not best known for his medical work, but rather for his research into the nature of Iceland, but he was the first person in the world to understand the nature of glaciers and explain their movement. In 1793, he was also the first to propose the theory that artificial craters were formed by steam explosions, but this was not generally accepted until around 1950. However, he did not receive the place in the history of geological science that his discovery would have deserved because his report or paper on the glaciers was not published; his main scientific papers were published long after his death. Sveinn Pálsson's travelogue, a kind of diary of his observations on nature, land and people, was written in Danish and not translated and published in Icelandic until 1945.
He traveled widely throughout the country and wrote extensively about his observations and various other subjects. He also translated various medical and natural science publications for the general public. It must have been difficult for him to be unable to concentrate on scientific research and to have to constantly toil with farm work and medical work in the most populous province of the country.
Sveinn was, among other things, the first to reach Lakagígar in 1794, ten years after the Skaftá eruption, and in the same year he was the first to climb Öræfajökull and attempted to climb Snæfell but had to abandon it due to storms. He was the first to encourage action against deforestation in Iceland, and Environment Day is celebrated annually on his birthday, April 25th.
Sveinn was born at Steinsstaðir in Tungusveit in Skagafjörður, the son of Páll Sveinsson, a farmer and goldsmith, and Guðrún Jónsdóttir, a housekeeper. He was sent to school and graduated from Hólaskóli in 1782. The following year he was a seaman, but then began medical studies with Jón Sveinsson, the medical director, and stayed with him for four years. He then went to Copenhagen and studied medicine at Hafnarfjörður for four more years, but did not complete his degree. He also studied natural sciences and received a three-year travel grant from the Danish Natural Sciences Society in 1791 to go to Iceland and conduct research. He had intended to return to Copenhagen and complete his studies, but this did not happen.
He traveled around Iceland from 1791-1794, working on various studies and sending his results to Copenhagen, but did not receive the extension of the grant he had hoped for, and had to turn his full attention to farming and medical work, which he had, however, pursued in addition to his travels. On October 4, 1799, he was appointed quartermaster in the Southern Highlands and was to look after Árnessýsla, Rangárvallasýsla, Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla and the Vestmannaeyjar Islands. For this he received an annual salary of 66 crown dollars, which was considered very meager and he had to row to fish in the winters in addition to medical work and farming.
When Sveinn was 33 years old, he married Þórunn, the daughter of Bjarni Pálsson, a medical officer of the Icelandic province, who was a great source of energy and largely looked after the farm at all times. They had 15 children, but 10 survived, so the household was burdened and it was difficult to support this large group. Sveinn often tried to improve his conditions, but he did not even get an official residence, which was supposed to accompany his job, until after more than ten years of struggle; then he received half the land in Vík free of charge for his residence. In 1816, however, conditions improved significantly and Sveinn then received 300 crown dollars in annual salary.
Sveinn is not best known for his medical work, but rather for his research into the nature of Iceland, but he was the first person in the world to understand the nature of glaciers and explain their movement. In 1793, he was also the first to propose the theory that artificial craters were formed by steam explosions, but this was not generally accepted until around 1950. However, he did not receive the place in the history of geological science that his discovery would have deserved because his report or paper on the glaciers was not published; his main scientific papers were published long after his death. Sveinn Pálsson's travelogue, a kind of diary of his observations on nature, land and people, was written in Danish and not translated and published in Icelandic until 1945.
He traveled widely throughout the country and wrote extensively about his observations and various other subjects. He also translated various medical and natural science publications for the general public. It must have been difficult for him to be unable to concentrate on scientific research and to have to constantly toil with farm work and medical work in the most populous province of the country.
Sveinn was, among other things, the first to reach Lakagígar in 1794, ten years after the Skaftá eruption, and in the same year he was the first to climb Öræfajökull and attempted to climb Snæfell but had to abandon it due to storms. He was the first to encourage action against deforestation in Iceland, and Environment Day is celebrated annually on his birthday, April 25th.