Elín Rannveig Briem (19 October 1856 – 4 December 1937) was an Icelandic teacher and writer who in 1889 published one of Iceland's most popular books, (The Women's Instructor). Principally a

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

, it also provided advice to housewives on health, hygiene and economics. The work was based on the classes she gave to her students while headmistress of the girls college at Ytri-Ey near

Skagaströnd Skagaströnd (), previously Höfðakaupstaður (), is a Municipalities of Iceland, municipality and village in the Northwestern Region (Iceland), Northwestern Region of Iceland. It is situated on the western side of the Skagi peninsula, along ...

in the north of Iceland.

Early life and education

Born on 19 October 1856 at

Espihóll Espihóll is a farm and old manor in Eyjafjarðarsveit county, Iceland that previously belonged to the rural municipality Hrafnagilshreppur. There is a large hill of the same name (the in is the Icelandic word for "hill") south of the farm. ...

on the

Eyjafjörður Eyjafjörður (, ''Island Fjord'') is one of the longest fjords in Iceland. It is located in the central north of the country. Situated by the fjord is the country's fourth most populous municipality, Akureyri. Physical geography The fjord is ...

, Elín Rannveig Briem was the daughter of Eggert Gunnlaugson Briem, a county magistrate (''

sýslumaður (; plural: ; , , ) is a governmental office or title used in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. The position originated in Norway in the Middle Ages, where it was used as a noble title, and the was granted a fief called a '' sýsla'' (pl ...

'') in northern and northwestern Iceland, and his wife Ingibjörg Eiríksdóttir. Elín was the 10th in a family of 19 children. The family moved frequently, settling in

Reynistaður Reynistaður, previously (“Site in Reynisnes”), is a town in Skagafjörður—a fjord in the north of Iceland. Reynistaður is the location of an old manor. Þorfinnur karlsefni (“the makings of a man”) was from Reynistaður and lived the ...

near

Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkrókur () is a Localities of Iceland, town on the Skagafjörður in northern Iceland. It is the seat of both the Skagafjörður (municipality), Sveitarfélagið Skagafjörður ('Municipality of Skagafjörður') and the Northwestern Re ...

in 1872. There the children were taught privately at home, learning all the normal subjects as well as English, Danish and German. Elín and her sister Kristin strongly supported the establishment of the first girls' school for the north of Iceland. It opened in 1877 in Skagafjörður county.

Career

After teaching at the Skagafjörður School for some time, Elín went to Denmark in 1881 to train as a teacher at Natalie Zahle's School in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. On graduating in 1883, she returned to Iceland to head the newly formed women's school at Ytri Ey. She stayed there under 1895, initially with 20 students but numbers grew rapidly attracting girls from throughout the country. In addition to the principal, there were two other teachers. The subjects taught were writing, arithmetic, geography, Danish, English, history and cookery. On 1 June 1895, Elín married Sæmund Eyjólfsson, a farmer who had studied theology and was also a prolific writer. They moved together to

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

but he died less than a year later. After his death, she moved back to her old Sauðárkrókur school. She soon met one of her old childhood friends, Stefán Jónsson, who had become a shopkeeper. They married in May 1903, after which Elín became known as Elín Jónsson. The marriage did not last very long as Stefán died on 5 May 1910. Elín once again took on the role of headmistress in 1912 but had to retire in 1915 as her health deteriorated. She spent the remainder of her life in Reykjavík. Although she had no children of her own, she had a foster son, Sæmund Helgason, who worked for the post office.

Cookbook

In her spare time, Elín wrote , first published in 1888. The 3,000 copies from the first edition were soon sold out, leading to three further editions in 1891, 1904 and 1911. While three-quarters of the book presented recipes, it also contained advice for housewives on nutrition, hygiene, cleaning and even economics. As a result, the book proved to have considerable impact on Icelandic cooking and housekeeping. The book is considered to be one of the most extensively published in Iceland.

Later life

Throughout her life, Elín contributed to improvements in education, housekeeping and healthy living. For her achievements, she received the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

. In later years, she continued to write. She died in Reykjavík on 4 December 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briem, Elin 1856 births 1937 deaths Elin Briem Heads of schools in Iceland Elin Briem Icelandic educators Icelandic women educators Women food writers Cookbook writers Recipients of the Order of the Falcon Women school principals and headteachers