Finnur Jónsson (16 January 1704 – 23 July 1789) 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 ...

ic pastor who served as Bishop of

Skálholt Skálholt (Modern Icelandic: ; ) is a historical site in the south of Iceland, at the river Hvítá, Árnessýsla, Hvítá. History Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. A bishopric was established ...

from 1754 to 1785. He attended 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. ...

and became a pastor at Reykholt in 1732. He was reluctant to become a bishop due to the administrative duties the office entailed. He was also an accomplished scholar. In 1774, he became the first Icelander to receive a

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

degree. From 1772 to 1778, he published ''Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiæ'', a four-volume work containing publications of the church in Iceland in Latin. Finnur's son, Hannes Finnsson, succeeded his father as Bishop of Skálholt, having been ordained a bishop in 1777. Finnur's wife was Guðríður Gísladóttir (1707–1766).

References

* 1704 births 1789 deaths 18th-century Icelandic Lutheran bishops Finnur Jonsson University of Copenhagen alumni {{Iceland-Lutheran-bishop-stub

See also

References