Monika Helgadóttir
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Monika Helgadóttir | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 25, 1901 |
| Died | October 6, 1988 (aged 86) |
| Other names | Monika á Merkigili (Monika of Merkigil) |
Monika Helgadóttir, also known as Monika of Merkigil (Monika á Merkigili), was born on November 25, 1901, in Skagafjörður, Iceland. She was a farmer in Merkigil, and was the driving force behind getting a bridge built in the Merkigil gorge. Her life is the subject of the 1954 book Konan í dalnum og dæturnar sjö (The Woman in the Valley and Her Seven Daughters) by Guðmundur G. Hagalín. Monika died in 1988.
Monika was born on the Árnastaðir farm in Lýtingsstaðahreppur, a rural municipality of Skagafjörður, to Helgi Björnsson and Margrét Sigurðardóttir.[1] She was the seventh of ten children and was known for her strong work ethic. At age 11, she began spending her summers working away from home cutting and baling grass on nearby farms.[2]
When she was a young woman, Monika traveled to Reykjavík to work in a fish factory where her uncle was a foreman. In the summer of 1924, she returned to Skagafjörður to visit her family and took on odd jobs. Although she intended to return to Reykjavík, her boat was delayed and, while she was waiting to leave, she was offered a job taking care of and elderly couple and their farm. She took the job and moved to the farm in Merkigil, where she cared for Sigurbjörg, a 93-year-old woman.[2] In 1926, Monika married Sigurbjörg's son Jóhannes Bjarnarson. They had eight children together: seven daughters and one son. When Jóhannes died at age 47, their youngest child was just 16 days old.[1]