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Jónína Geirlaug Ólafsdóttir, who was born at Álftarhóll in Austur-Landeyjar, Rangárvallasýsla county, South Iceland, on February 13, 1913, remembers the effects of the last volcanic eruption in Katla in 1918 vividly.
The 1918 Katla eruption.
“We didn’t have much at that time but everyone was helpful. Those who had something shared it with others,” Jónína told Morgunblaðið.
The same year was the ‘Great Winter of Frost’ and Jónína, who lived in an unheated turf house, clearly remembers the cold.
“My father had to go out every morning to break the ice on the well and wipe snow and ice off the animals. We only left the house to care for the animals,” she recounted.
Jónína is fit for her age and still lives by herself in an apartment in Breiðholt, a district of Reykjavík. “My health is fortunately good and I stumble around here with my cane. I have nothing to do at a nursing home and I’d rather not move to such an institution.”
She moved from the countryside to the capital during World War II and has lived there since, working as a cleaner for the airline Flugleiðir, now Icelandair.
Jónína, whose centennial birthday was on Wednesday, will celebrate with her family next weekend; the party will be at her son’s house in Garðabær. He is in his seventies.
There have been speculations that the volcano Katla may about to get ready for another eruption but there have been no news of seismic activity around the crater lately.
Click here to read more about Katla.
ESA
A petition urging the government to reconsider a proposed bill, in which the terms of the law requiring fishing companies to pay a tariff for their use of Iceland’s fishing resources are to be changed, has been signed by more than 11,000 people.
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Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is meeting with Prime Minister of Sweden Frederik Reinfeldt today, 
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In 1915, women aged 40 and over were granted the right to cast a vote in all official elections held in Iceland.
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The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
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Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
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