Ljósbjörg Petra María Sveinsdóttir was born on Christmas Eve in 1922, among the rural landscapes of East Iceland. Her early home was a traditional farmhouse at Bæjarstaðir, where a close connection to the natural world was part of daily life. This setting nurtured her fascination with the mountains and their geological treasures, a passion that would shape her life’s work.
From childhood pastime to a community collection
In 1927, the Sveinsdóttir family settled in the then-small fishing village of Kirkjuból, known today as Stöðvarfjörður. With only about 80 inhabitants at the time, Petra’s world was one of close community ties and long walks in the wild terrain. She was educated at home until a local school opened in 1933 and was already known among her peers for her storytelling and love of the outdoors.
As a child, Petra collected stones to make drawings and decorate for tea-parties with friends, but this pastime grew into something much more. When she and her husband Jón Ingimundarson (Nenni) bought their first home in 1946, Petra’s collecting entered a new phase. Now with ample space, she ventured into the mountains around Stöðvarfjörður, searching for remarkable mineral specimens.
Her neighbours soon noticed her knack for finding unusual stones, and she sometimes guided visitors in discovering the region’s geological riches. For Petra, collecting was never just a personal pursuit. She believed that the natural beauties of her homeland were to be shared. This philosophy led her, after her husband’s death in 1974, to open her home and garden to the public, displaying thousands of collected stones for anyone interested.
A museum and a legacy
Petra’s Stone Collection quickly became a prominent attraction in East Iceland. Over the decades, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have visited the museum set in her former home. Not just a display of minerals, the collection reflects a lifetime of curiosity and an enduring desire to foster appreciation for Iceland’s geological history.
Petra’s work earned her national respect. Her deep knowledge and correspondence with experts in geology, botany and marine biology contributed to wider understanding of local natural history. Honours followed, most notably, the Order of the Falcon, Iceland’s highest civil recognition, presented to her in 1995. Typically modest, she remarked that the award was earned by “the stones and not for myself.”
Ljósbjörg Petra María Sveinsdóttir died in January 2012. Yet the museum she founded remains, cared for as a tribute to both her passion and her contribution to Icelandic heritage.
