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Downtown in Reykjavík in Reykjavíkurborg, Höfuðborgarsvæðið, Iceland — North Atlantic and Artic Oceans (a Nordic Island)
 

Tobbukot

Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir, midwife (1827-1903)

 
 
Tobbukot Marker - English Side image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, May 18, 2018
1. Tobbukot Marker - English Side
Inscription.  
(English Side:)

In 1858 a small half-stone house or steinbaer was built here. Before long it was purchased by midwife Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir. The house was commonly called Tobbukot, a diminutive derived from "Þorbjörg's cottage.” In 1896 Þorbjörg built a two-floored wooden house on the same plot, where she lived until her death in 1903. Skólavörðustígur 11 was the latter-day address of the houses, which were demolished in 1968 to be replaced by a large modern building.

Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir was born in modest circumstances in 1827, daughter of a country clergyman at Sandfell in Öræfi, southeast Iceland. She studied midwifery at Copenhagen's maternity hospital, graduating in 1856; this one-year course was the only training programme available to Icelandic women at that time. Þorbjörg worked as a midwife in Reykjavík, where she held the post of official midwife from 1864 until her retirement in 1902. One of her last deliveries was that of a baby boy in a little house at Laugavegur 32: when Halldór Guðjónsson grew up he would take the pen-name Laxness, and ultimately win the Nobel prize

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In 1846 the population of Reykjavík was almost 1500, but by the end of the century it had increased to 7000. Þorbjörg delivered babies all over Reykjavík and undoubtedly knew the inhabitants better than anyone else. She was loved and admired by the mothers of Reykjavík. She was famous as a woman of substance, who spoke at political meetings, undeterred by her lack of a right to vote.

Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir was among the founders of the Icelandic Women's Association, Hið íslenska kvenfélag, in 1894. It was the first women's association in Iceland to include women's rights in its manifesto. In 1895 its membership included 485 women from Reykjavik, about one quarter of the town's women.

Þorbjörg brought up her niece Ólafía Jóhannsdóttir (1863-1924), who also became a well-known activist for women's rights. She worked to promote temperance, was active in Iceland's YMCA and YWCA, and co-founded a women's temperance society, Hvítabandið, in Reykjavík in 1895, sitting on its first board. Ólafía worked abroad after 1903, mainly in Oslo, where she founded a refuge for those whom society had rejected.

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(Icelandic Side:)

Steinbær var reistur hér árið 1858 og fljótlega keypti hann Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir Ijósmóðir. Bærinn var jafnan nefndur Tobbukot. Árið 1896 reisti Þorbjörg tvílyft timburhús á sömu

Tobbukot Marker - Icelandic Side image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, May 18, 2018
2. Tobbukot Marker - Icelandic Side
lóð og bjó þar til dánardægurs árið 1903. Húsin hlutu síðar heitið Skólavörðustígur 11. Þau voru rifin árið 1968 og stórhýsi byggt á lóðinni.

Þorbjörg Sveinsdöttir fæddist að Sandfelli í Öræfum árið 1827, dóttir fátækra prestshjóna. Hún varð ljósmóðir frá Fæðingarstofnun Kaupmannahafnar árið 1856, en það var eina námið sem stóð íslenskum konum til boða og það tók aðeins eitt ár. Þorbjörg stundaði ljósmóðurstörf í Reykjavík þar sem hún var embættisljösmóðir frá árinu 1864 þar til hún lét af störfum árið 1902. Eitt síðasta ljósmóðurverk hennar var að taka á móti sveinbarni í steinbæ að Laugavegi 32 sem gefið var nafnið Halldör og tók sér siðar ættarnafnið Laxness. Hann hlaut siðar bókmenntaverðlaun Nóbels.

Arið 1856 voru íbúar Reykjavikur tæplega 1.500 en um aldamótin 1900 hafði þeim fjölgað í sjö þúsund. Þorbjörg fór um allt þorpið til að taka á möti börnum og þekkti íbúana eflaust betur en nokkur annar. Hún var elskuð og dáð af sængurkonum bæjarins. Hún var nafnkunnur skörungur og tók til máls á stjórnmálafundum þótt ekki hefði hún atkvæðisrétt.

Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir var einn stofnenda Hins íslenska kvenfélags árið 1894. Það var fyrsta kvenfélag á íslandi sem hafði kvenréttindi á stefnuskrá sinni. Árið 1895 höfðu 485 reykvískar konur gengið í það, sem var um fjórðungur allra kvenna í bænum.

Hjá Þorbjörgu ólst upp systurdóttir hennar, Ólafía Jóhannsdóttir

Tobbukot Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, May 18, 2018
3. Tobbukot Marker - wide view
The marker is visible just to the left of the black trash receptacle.
(1863-1924) sem einnig varð kunn að störfum að kvenréttindamálum. Hún starfaði að bindindismálum og málum KFUM og K og var meðstofnandi Hvítabandsins í Reykjavík árið 1895 og sat í fyrstu stjörn þess. Eftir 1903 starfaði Ólafía erlendis, aðallega í Osló, þar sem hún beitti sér fyrir að komið yrði á fót heimili fyrir utangarðsfólk.

 
Erected by Reykjavík City Museum.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil RightsScience & MedicineWomen. A significant historical year for this entry is 1858.
 
Location. 64° 8.713′ N, 21° 55.876′ W. Marker is in Reykjavík, Capital Region (Höfuðborgarsvæðið), in Reykjavíkurborg. It is in Downtown. Marker is at the intersection of Skólavörðustígur and Grettisgata on Skólavörðustígur. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Skólavörðustígur 11, Reykjavík, Capital Region 101, Iceland. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Skólavörðustígur 11 (here, next to this marker); Skólavörðustígur 13 (within shouting distance of this marker); Laugavegur 15 (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); Laugavegur (about 180 meters away); Torfhildur Hólm (about 180 meters away); Bankastræti 10 (about 180 meters away); Founding of the Reykjavik Water Utility / Uphaf vatnsveitu
Marker detail: Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Guðjón Ágúst Guðmundsson
4. Marker detail: Þorbjörg Sveinsdóttir
(about 180 meters away); Þingholtsstræti 13 (about 180 meters away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Reykjavík.
 
Marker detail: <i>Tobbukot</i>, or Þorbjörg's cottage, just before it was demolished in 1965. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Jóhann Vilberg, 1965
5. Marker detail: Tobbukot, or Þorbjörg's cottage, just before it was demolished in 1965.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on August 30, 2018. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2018, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 238 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 30, 2018, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.

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Mar. 28, 2024