Pall Melsted- Historian 1812-1910

This is the oldest obituary I have found to date. The newspaper says February 16, 1910. Pall Melsted actually passed away on February 9th. Mr. Melsted was an Icelandic historian, editor and member of the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland. He worked editing papers, served as a sort of sheriff, went on to get a degree in law, and worked with his second wife to open Kvennaskolinn, the first girls' school of Iceland. From 1862 to 1885 Páll worked as a lawyer in Reykjavík. In 1868 he started teaching part time at the Learned School and in 1885 he became a full-time history professor. In the 1860s Páll wrote and published a multi-volume work on world history, Fornaldarsagan (1864), Miðaldarsagan (1866), Nýja sagan (1868). In 1891 his Norðurlandasaga ["History of the Nordic Countries"] was published. He also wrote a number of historical articles in various periodicals. Páll's historical writings were praised for their lively and lucid writing style.
This article says that he died at his home in Reykjavik and was one of the islands most deserving men. For more than fifty years he had worked for enlightenment and education among his countrymen, usually without the second salary. The paper is really thin and soft. I was really surprised to find an article this old. I found this today.