Reykjavik Classics

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík is the oldest junior college in Reykjavík, Iceland. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains one of the oldest institutions in Iceland. The school was moved to Reykjavík in 1786, but poor housing conditions forced it to move again in 1805 to Bessastaðir near Reykjavík. In 1846 the school was moved to its current location, and a new building was erected for it in Reykjavík. This was the largest building in the country at the time and can be seen on the 500 Icelandic krona bill. It was used initially when Alþingi began to meet again in Reykjavík after a few years hiatus and thus it is in this building where Icelandic independence leader Jón Sigurðsson led the MPs in their famous phrase, 'Vér mótmælum allir'. The school has previously been known as Lærði skólinn , Latínuskólinn and by the Latin title Scholae Reykjavicensis; it received its present name in 1937. Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík offers a three-year course of study. It usually ends with a degree which gives the graduating student the right to advance to an Icelandic university. Many Icelandic politicians, including the first prime minister Hannes Hafstein, former Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson and the former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, attended MR. Almost every Prime Minister of Iceland has been educated at the school apart from Halldór Ásgrímsson, Ólafur Jóhannesson, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson and Þorsteinn Pálsson. Geir H. Haarde, Davíð's successor as chairman of the Independence Party and former Prime Minister, also took over from him as chairman of student body, Skólafélagið . In 1879 Hannes Hafstein was the school's first inspector scholar, and in 1940 his grandson Einar Ragnarsson Kvaran achieved the position. The former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, was also the president of the main student body, Framtíðin.
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