Stephan G. Stephansson
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Stephan G. Stephansson (October 3, 1853 – August 10, 1927) was a Western Icelander, poet, and farmer. His given name was Stefán Guðmundur Guðmundsson.


Early Life

He was born in
Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...
,
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 ...
but immigrated to
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
, United States in 1873, at age 19. In 1889 he moved to
Markerville Markerville is a hamlet (place), hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within Red Deer County. It is located north of Alberta Highway 54, Highway 54, approximately southwest of Red Deer, Alberta, Red Deer. Markerville was the home for many years ...
,
Red Deer County Red Deer County is a municipal district in central Alberta, Canada within Census Division No. 8 and surrounding the City of Red Deer. The neighbouring municipalities of Red Deer County are Clearwater County to the west, Lacombe County to the ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, Canada. He did not see Iceland again until 1917, when he was 64 years old. Stephan was self-educated and worked hard all his life. He wrote after work, and, being an insomniac, he often wrote till dawn. He was under the influence of the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
writer
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
and they shared the same beliefs in many matters, including equal rights for men and women. Stephan wrote only in Icelandic and had great influence in his home country. His poems were published in a six volume book called "Andvökur" (Wakeful Nights). His letters and essays were published in four volumes, and even if nothing of his poetry had survived, those would have been enough to single him out as one of Iceland's foremost men of letters.


Death and Legacy

On 16 December 1926, Stephansson suffered a severe
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
. Although advised by doctors to be moved to a nearby hospital, Stephansson refused. He struggled greatly with writing, although, with assistance from Helga and his daughter Rósa, he regained the ability to write and continued to produce poetry. Despite this recovery, his health worsened throughout the spring of 1927 and on 9 August 1927, he suffered another stroke, passing away in the early morning of 10 August. His homestead near Markerville is an Alberta Provincial Historic Site. It has been restored and is open to the public from May 15 until August 31. The Stephan G. Stephansson Award is named in his honor and awarded annually by the Writers Guild of Alberta. In 1984 folk artist Richard White released an album of Stephansson poems sung in English translation and set to original music called ''Sun Over Darkness Prevail''. Image:Monument to Stephan Stephansson.jpg, Monument to Stephan Stephansson at
Vatnsskarð is a mountain pass between Austur-Húnavatnssýsla, Húnavatnssýlsa and Skagafjörður (municipality), Skagafjörður Counties in Iceland. Route 1 (Iceland), Route 1 uses it. There is a lake in the pass named , and the county border is just eas ...
pass near Varmahlið in northern Iceland Image:StefanGStefansson12.JPG, Stephan G. Stephansson Monument


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephansson, Stephan 1853 births 1927 deaths Icelandic male poets Icelandic emigrants to Canada Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Place of death missing Icelandic emigrants to the United States 19th-century Icelandic people