Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran

Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran (6 December 1859 in Vellanes, Iceland as Einar Hjörleifsson – 21 May 1938 in Reykjavík) was an Icelandic editor, novelist, poet, playwright and prominent spiritualist.

Einar Kvaran was the son of Rev. Hjörleifur Einarsson and Guðlaug Eyjólfsdóttir. His name was originally Einar Hjorleifsson but he adopted the family name Kvaran in 1916 along with his brothers Sigurdur and Trygvi and the sons of his deceased brother Joseph. (The name is taken from Laxdæla saga. In 1913, the Althing passed a law, since rescinded, which permitted Icelanders to adopt family names. Einar Hjörleifsson was on a committee that proposed to allow certain categories of names, including those with ancient origins.)

Einar graduated in 1881 from the College of Iceland, known as the Latin School. As a student in economics at the University of Copenhagen in 1882, he was one of four students to publish the single issue of the literary periodical Verðandi, which introduced to Iceland the Modern Breakthrough expounded by Georg Brandes. Einar was one of the pioneers of realism in Icelandic writing; his stories and novels represent a break with past admiration of the sagas: they are written in educated contemporary language and deal with ordinary people and problems.

From 1885 to 1895 Einar emigrated to Icelandic Canada, where he lived in Winnipeg and helped found two Icelandic-language weekly publications, Heimskringla ("Globe") and Lögberg ("Tribune"). On his return to Iceland he was a journalist and editor in both Reykjavík and Akureyri; he participated in the struggle for independence and also wrote about education, and theatre. He was co-editor of Ísafold, then Iceland's leading newspaper, and editor of Fjallkonan. He edited Skírnir, the journal of the Icelandic Literary Society, from 1892 to 1895 and from 1908 to 1909.

...
Wikipedia