Wesley College in Winnipeg, later Winnipeg University
Rev. Friðrik J Bergmann Photo: VÍÆ IV
Friðrik Bergmann understood right from childhood that his parents wanted him to get an education. At home he learned to read and draw, and then began lessons with Reverend Jón Austmann, Reverend Árna Jóhannsson and Reverend Davíð Guðmundsson. In the spring of 1874, he went to Reykjavík and sat for the entrance exam for the Latin school, but his parents’ circumstances changed, and they decided to move to the West. Friðrik was clearly in favor of that decision, because instead of starting his studies at the Latin School, he went west across the ocean in 1875 and went to Wisconsin, where Páll Þorláksson was at the time. Friðrik went to the Icelandic colony in Shawano, where Páll prepared his brother, Níel Steingrím for studies in a Norwegian Latin school in Decorah, Iowa. Friðrik stayed there over the winter and until the summer of 1876, but in the autumn, they went to Decorah and Friðrik graduated from there in 1881. He began studying theology in Oslo, Norway in 1883 and stayed there until the spring of 1885. From there he went to Philadelphia, where he continued his studies and completed his degree in the spring of 1886 and was ordained a pastor on June 17 of the same year for the Icelandic congregations in N. Dakota. There he served eight congregations from 1886 to 1893. He served in N. Dakota until 1902, then moved to Winnipeg in the fall and was hired as a teacher of Icelandic studies at Wesley College in the city. He accepted the call of the Tjaldbúð Congregation in Winnipeg and served it for the rest of his life. He became the vice-president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Society of Icelanders in North America, but due to disagreements about theology, he resigned from the society in 1909.
Friðrik began writing articles for newspapers and magazines early on. He was the editor for Aldamóta 1891-1903 and Breiðablika 1906-1914. Among the many collections of articles, we can mention Eina lífið 1903, Vafulogar 1906, Treginn og tárin 1911, Viðreisnarvon kirkjunnar 1911, Trú og þekking 1916, Hvert stefnir 1916 and Sögur Breiðablika 1919.
English version by Thor group.