Guðmundur Finnbogason (June 6, 1873 – July 17, 1944)Pind (2005), pp. 9, 30 was an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, the son of Guðrún Jónsdóttir and Finnbogi Finnbogason.Pind (2005), p. 9 He was one of the first Icelandic

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

s. His work "Sympathetic Understanding" inspired Jean Piaget's development stages model.

Career

Guðmundur finished his studies at Lærði Skólinn in the spring of 1896. The same year, he began studying

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

; he graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in psychology in 1901.Pind (2005), p. 10 Among his mentors were Harald Høffding and Alfred Lehmann.Pind (2005), pp. 12, 13 og 15 Lehmann had studied under

Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and biology, was t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and established a laboratory in Copenhagen in 1886. During 1901 and 1902 Guðmundur traveled in Scandinavia and gathered information on teaching in these countries. The Icelandic national parliament, the Alþingi, supported him. Based on this research, his first book, ''Lýðmenntun'' (People's education), was published in 1903. In it and a report to the parliament the same year, Guðmundur put forward his proposals for the education of children in Iceland.Pind (2005), pp. 19, 20, 21 During 1903 and 1904, he traveled in Iceland to gather information on teaching in the country and then wrote another report to parliament. In 1907, a policy for teaching was agreed upon, largely based on Guðmundur's reports.Pind (2005), pp. 22, 23 In 1905 and 1906, Guðmundur was the editor of '' Skírnir'' and also did some translation. Among others, he translated

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

' lecture about human immortality and an article by

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

.Pind (2005), pp. 23, 24 He again served as editor of ''Skírnir'' from 1913 to 1920 and from 1933 to 1943.Pind (2005), p. 27 In 1908 to 1910 Guðmundur worked on his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

thesis for the University of Copenhagen, titled ''Samúðarskilningurinn'' (Sympathetic understanding).Pind (2005), pp. 24, 25 His thesis defence took place in 1911, and his book on the same topic, ''Hugur og heimur'' (Mind and the universe), was published in 1912. During the same period as Guðmundur was completing and defending his thesis, the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

was founded and a professorship in philosophy was founded at the school. Guðmundur applied for the position, but

Ágúst H. Bjarnason Ágúst H. Bjarnason (20 August 1875 – 22 September 1952) was the son of Hákon Bjarnason, and Jóhanna K. Þorleifsdóttir. Ágúst was a pioneer in teaching psychology in Iceland and the first one to write books on psychology in Icelandic. A ...

was appointed instead. Guðmundur became head of the Icelandic National Library.Pind (2005), p. 28 In 1918 he was appointed professor at the University, and served in that position until 1924, teaching

applied psychology Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience. Educational and organizational psychology, business management, law, health, pro ...

and performing experiments with students.

References

* Jörgen L. Pind. 2005. "Guðmundur Finnbogason, sálfræðingur, ritstjóri Skírnis". ''Skírnir'', 179. Spring 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Finnbogason, Gudmundur 1873 births 1944 deaths Gudmundur Finnbogason Gudmundur Finnbogason