Matthías Johannessen

Oddur Pálsson (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Born 1930
Died 2024

Places

Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Johannessen's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Matthías Johannessen was the main editor of the Icelandic daily

Morgunblaðið

and a prolific poet, nominated three times for the Nordic literature prize. He was born in Reykjavík in 1930 and finished his master’s degree in Icelandic studies and literature at The University of Iceland in 1955; his master’s thesis was on the

Njáls saga

and the influences this long and famous saga has had on Icelandic literature throughout the ages. He then went to Copenhagen for further studies in literature and drama. Matthías was subsequently offered a scholarship to go to Germany and study there, but decided instead to go back to Iceland in 1956 to accept an offer to become a journalist for the daily newspaper

Morgunblaðið

, which he had been working for since his school days in Reykjavík. In…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1605 words

Citation: Pálsson, Oddur. "Matthías Johannessen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 October 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15202, accessed 24 November 2024.]