Jón Ólafsson

Who was Jón Ólafsson?

Jón Ólafsson was an Icelandic editor, journalist, and poet.

He was the half-brother of Páll Ólafsson. He became a journalist in Iceland in 1868, but due to disobedience to the authorities, he had to emigrate to North America in 1872. There, a lawyer convinced him that it would be a good idea for people from Iceland to immigrate into Alaska, especially to the Island of Kodiak. Ólafsson made a petition to President Ulysses S. Grant and met with him, but neither that nor the bill to Congress lead to success; however, the government of Canada offered land in Manitoba to immigrants from Iceland.