Iceland

Amma Dísa

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Hjördís Kristjánsdóttir was born in Northern Iceland on 28th of February in 1930. She was raised up on the farm Bjarnarstaðir in the rural valley of Bárðardalur, close to the highlands. At the age of 23 she moved to Reykjavik to study handcraft and teaching, a rather bold move for a country girl at the time, especially when thinking of the conservative environment she was raised up on the farm.

In the teaser Hjördís offers us a glimpse into her everyday life in retirement home, tells about the occupation of Iceland in 1940 and the lucky circumstances that led her to higher education.

Video: Anna Sæunn Olafsdottir

EGP goes North: Meet grandma Dísa from Iceland!

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disa

Hjördís Kristjánsdóttir was born in Akureyri, Northern Iceland in 1930. Her mother died of tuberculosis when she was only 3 and was put in foster care and raised by relatives, 5 siblings, in a rural countryside. She studied housekeeping and handcraft and became a teacher, alongside farm work with her late husband, Sigurgeir. She started writing a diary at age 30 and still does today, at age 86. She now lives in a retirement home in her birth town of Akureyri.