Reykjavik Junior College cuts Latin study by a year

Reykjavik Junior College has cut a year from its Latin course on the classical languages track, a decision that took effect this autumn. The change threatens a tradition the school has maintained for 180 years, according to an opinion article published by mbl.is.

The article says other schools and some clergy have occasionally helped sustain Latin teaching in Iceland, but Reykjavik Junior College is now the only upper secondary school in the country to offer it. The author says the rector’s decision last school year to reduce the course by a year has unsettled students, some of whom have written “pereat” on the steps on school grounds.

The word was used in a student protest at the school in 1849-50, when pupils opposed a rector’s attempt to make them join a temperance society. The article also notes its appearance in the song “Gaudeamus”: “Pereat tristitia, pereant osores” — “Let sadness perish, let haters perish.”

The author argues that reducing Latin teaching in stages could eventually eliminate it altogether, and criticises the rector for not providing adequate explanations. The article raises questions about the rector’s authority and cultural responsibilities, describing Latin as the school’s most valuable legacy and a source of pride.

For centuries, Latin and Greek textbooks used in Iceland were in foreign languages, mainly Latin. Some were printed in Iceland, including Arngrímur Jónsson’s Grammatica latina, published at Hólar in 1616. The article says the first Latin grammar published in Icelandic was produced by Latin teachers at Reykjavik School and printed in 1868. It introduced Icelandic grammatical terms, some of which remain in use today.

The preface to the 1868 book says that unnatural new coinages will disappear if people do not adopt them.