Ólafur S Þorgeirsson Photo: IPM
Ólafur arrived in Winnipeg on November 5, 1887 and surprisingly quickly found himself involved in the city’s Icelandic community. He had only been there a few weeks when he took part in the founding of the Good Templar lodge Hekla, which officially began its activities on December 23, 1887. In December of the same year, he was a member of the committee that founded Lögberg, and at the beginning of the new century, in 1902, he was one of the founders of the Helgi Magri club. He was a trained printer, so printing and publishing newspapers, magazines and books became his main occupation. He became Lögberg’s first printer and worked there until 1905. Then he opened his own printing house and printed and published from it. His first almanac was Lögberg’s Almanak for 1889, but his own almanac was first published in 1894.
Below is a list of the main things Ólafur printed and published:
Almanak 1894 – 1956
Syrpa, quarterly publication 1911-1922
Breiðablik, monthly publication 1906-1914
Ólafur printed several books, sometimes he did it at his own expense, but more often others took care of the finances.
Hauksbók, 1905. a collection of popular studies 1905.
Vafurlogar: 1906. These were a collection of lectures, seven in number, by Reverend Friðrik J. Bergmann 1906.
Smælingjar: 1908 These were five stories by Einar Hjörleifsson.
Nokkur ljóðmæli: 1915. Author Sigurður J. Jóhannesson.
Hagalagðar: 1916. Author Júlíana Jónsdóttir.
English version by Thor group.