The Akureyri Junior College ( , regionally also ; ) is 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 gymnasium (academic secondary school). It is one of the oldest educational institutions in Iceland. The Menntaskólinn á Akureyri traces its roots to the ancient school in

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the valley Hjaltadalur, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is t ...

in Hjaltadalur valley, founded in the beginning of Jón Ögmundsson's

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

in 1130. Operation of that school was discontinued in 1802 but a campaign to reopen the school of the 'Northland' was soon launched. Success came in 1880 when a 'learned school' was opened at Möðruvellir in the valley of Hörgárdalur. The building in Möðruvellir burnt down in 1902 and the school was moved to

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

, where it is currently located. Today the Junior College is attended by about 700 pupils every year, and on the national day of Iceland, 17 June, approximately 120 students graduate yearly. The Junior College's headmaster is Karl Frímannsson. Tryggvi Gíslason (born 11 June 1938) was headmaster of Akureyri Junior College from 1973 to 2003. Tryggvi graduated with a mag. art. degree and taught Icelandic at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...

in Norway. The college is based on tradition. A few of these are: * Singing: A few times each semester, students gather outside the headmaster's office to sing for him. If they sing well enough, he grants the students permission to skip the next class and gather in the auditorium to sing. () * No alcohol: All gatherings in the name of the school are alcohol free. Almost all students respect this and consider it something that distinguishes their school from others in Iceland. * Different school year: As in other schools in Iceland this one has two terms, an autumn term and a spring term; but this school has its autumn exams after Christmas, while most other schools have the exams before Christmas.

Notable faculty members

Björgvin Guðmundsson Björgvin Guðmundsson (16 April 1891 – 4 January 1961) was an Icelandic composer. He was born at Rjúpnafell, Vopnafjörður, Iceland, where he grew up. In Vopnafjörður he showed inclination for music, and in his twenties Björgvin moved wit ...

, composer *

Páll Skúlason Páll Skúlason (4 June 1945 – 22 April 2015) was a professor of philosophy and former Rector of the University of Iceland. Born and raised in Akureyri, in northern Iceland, Páll Skúlason graduated from highschool in 1965. He studied phil ...

, philosopher *

Steingrímur J. Sigfússon Steingrímur Jóhann Sigfússon (born 4 August 1955) is an Icelandic politician. He has been a member of the Althing (Icelandic parliament) since 1983 and was the founding chairman of the Left-Green Movement (''Vinstri hreyfingin – grænt fra ...

, politician * Tómas Ingi Olrich, later member of

Alþingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...

, Minister of Education, and ambassador to France * Tryggvi Gíslason, headmaster from 1973 to 2003

Graduates

* Ari Brynjolfsson, physicist *

Eysteinn Björnsson Eysteinn Björnsson (born Stöðvarfjörður January 9, 1942) is an Icelandic writer. Career From 1954 Eysteinn lived in Siglufjörður, graduated from Menntaskólinn á Akureyri in 1961, and went on to study Icelandic, English, and geograph ...

, writer * Jens Garðar Helgason, politician * Sigurður Helgason, mathematician *

Sigurður Þórarinsson Sigurdur Thorarinsson ( Icelandic: Sigurður Þórarinsson) (8 January 1912 – 8 February 1983) was an Icelandic geologist, volcanologist, glaciologist, professor and lyricist. He is considered a pioneer in the field of tephrochronology, and he ...

, geologist

References

External links

The school's website

The school paper's website
{{Coord, 65.6765, -18.0944, type:edu_region:IS, display=title Akureyri Gymnasiums in Iceland Universities and colleges established in 1880 1880 establishments in Iceland