Gunnar Matthíasson Photo: VÍÆ II
Guðný Árnadóttir Photo: VÍÆ II
Guðný Árnadóttir was born on July 3, 1883 in the Argyle settlement in Manitoba.
Spouse: October 25, 1905 Gunnar Matthíasson b. at Oddi in Rangárvallasýsla on August 7, 1882.
Children: 1. Elín Guðrún b. August 29, 1907 2. Unnur Helga b. July 31, 1911 3. Þóra Anna b. January 7, 1914 4. Matthías Árni b. March 8, 1915.
Guðný was the daughter of Árni Sveinsson, an early settler in the Argyle settlement and his wife Guðrún Helga Jónsdóttir. Gunnar was the son of poet Matthías Jochumsson and his third wife, Guðrún Runólfsdóttir. He moved to Akureyri with his parents in 1887 and attended Möðruvallasskóli for one year. He came west to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1898 and went to the Argyle settlement. He moved west to the Pacific Ocean to Seattle and studied masonry. He worked at it for ten years but then studied pharmacy, bought a drugstore with Bjarni Jóhannsson and together they ran it for 14 years. They moved to Los Angeles in 1937 where he returned to masonry. He first visited Iceland in 1909, again in 1947 with his wife, at which time Icelandic youth who had benefited from their assistance during their studies in California had invited them to Iceland. Finally, he visited Iceland in 1954 with his daughter Þóra, who was then a well-known singer, and she gave several singing performances in Reykjavík.