Evening star., 1941-09-03
IceIanders' Pride
Is School System
Available 10 All
University Of Reykiavik,
Only Four Years Old,
Is Modern Institution
Thirteenth OF q Sertes.)
Thirteenth OF a Series.)
By THOMAS r. HENRY,
star STAFF Correspondent.

Star stsf Correspondent.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland.-The pride
of Iceland-and truly one OF the
marvels of the worlds the nation
school system.
On q hilltop overlooking the city
is the University of Reykjavik, about
four years old. Its main building is
the biggest structure in Iceland. IL
is built largely of native materials,
particularly of Icelandic spar, ana
sea shells we're mixed with the I'M
ported cement to give the concrete
a national flavor.
This is the worlds newest and
perhaps most modern institution OF
higher learning. 1t is almost unbe-
uevable that a country with an ex-
tremely scattered population of only
10000 can tax itself to support a
university about which any smali
American State would boast.
It Is a complete university, with
schools of arts and sciences, law,
medicine and theology and a very
DISTINGUISHED group OF SCllOlalS w
a faculty. The visitor is most i'm
pressed with the medical school,
with its shining equipment for phys
ioloeical experiments. This DEPART
ment is in charge of DR.. Olegsson,
recent postgraduate OF the Mayo
Clinic and Iceland's most distln-
o,Iisbed nhvSician,
Research In Animal Diseases.
Besides training physicians. this
school is specializing IN research on
animal diseases, especially lmpor-
tant for Icelandic agriculture. Do
mestic animals, with the exception
of goats and reindeer, are subject to
epidemics which may be due to the
climatic and light conditions. These
have caused heavy losses in the past.
Besides there are human medical
problems peculiar to Iceland-the
most serious being the inroads OF
tuberculosis in the land OF sunless
winters. Leprosy once was prevalent
on the island-probably due to the
same causes as tuberculosis, for the
two diseases are closely related. 1t
has been greatly reduced by strict
isolation. DR.. Olegsson and his col
leagues plan to get down to the
fundamentals of the situation.
The pride of the university is its
chapel-Lutheran, for that is the
state religion, but with the harp OF
Erin prominent in its decorations
AS symbol of 1celand's pride in It's
Irish blood.
Only -Four Years Old.
This university is the first place
to see in Reykjavik, I was shown
through it with a group of United
States Marine officers, some Of them
graduates of Annapolis and some OF
state universities. They gasped
with amazernent as room after room
was opened-classes are closed for
the summer-by courteous guide.
The university is only four years
old. 1t hasn't got football team
vet. but the students do indulge in
"cilma" contests. China" Is form
of wrestling, very old sport prac-
ticed by the Vikings in the days OF
the sagaS.
This university with its 290 STU
dents was built and endowed by a
national lottery. 1t is intended as a
symbol to the rest of the world OF
the eternal independence of the
Icelandic mind, which refuses to be
sl1ackeled in Danish, German or
English ways of thought. 1t be-
lieves it to be the natural center OF
studies of one of the worlds great
cultures of the past which will have
an ever increasing influence on
world thinking and philosophy in
the future. Graduate students are
expected from all over the world.
High Schools for All.
One of Iceland's worst sisterly
nuarrels with Denmark has been
over the removal to Copenhagen OF
the ancient Icelandic manuscripts to
which, the natives claim, the Danes
never had any title-morally or cul-
turally. Now the Icelanders expect
10 gSJ lIleIH UdCh dilu H4dhC 1eCy MO
vik University shrine for them.
The little nation has one other
center of higher education-the
agricultural college at Akureyri, the
metropolis of North Iceland. For
more than a generation boys and
girls have been travelling from the
farmsteads at the heads of the
lonely fjords to the Arctic city and
then returning. versed in all the Sci
ence of modern agriculture, to re-
sumo without complaint their iso-
lated lives.
Elementary and high school edu-
cation is almost universal in the
nation. How 10000 people sup
port the system is Incompetent
sible.