Halldór Laxness
| Halldór Laxness | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
23 April 1902 Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Died | 8 February 1998 (aged 95) Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Nationality | Icelandic |
| Notable awards |
Nobel Prize in Literature 1955 |
| Spouses |
Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir (m. 1930–40) Auður Sveinsdóttir (m. 1945–98) |
Halldór Kiljan Laxness (Icelandic: [ˈhaltour ˈcʰɪljan ˈlaxsnɛs]; born Halldór Guðjónsson; 23 April 1902 – 8 February 1998) was a twentieth-century Icelandic writer. Laxness wrote poetry, newspaper articles, plays, travelogues, short stories, and novels. Major influences included August Strindberg, Sigmund Freud, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Bertolt Brecht and Ernest Hemingway. In 1955 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature; he is the only Icelandic Nobel laureate.
Laxness was born in 1902 in Reykjavík. In 1905 his family moved to a farm near the town of Mosfellsbær, about 15 km east of Reykjavík. At an early age he started to read books and write stories. In 1915 and 1916 he attended the technical school in Reykjavík. In 1916 he had an article published in the newspaper Morgunblaðið. By the time his first novel, Barn náttúrunnar (1919), was published he had already begun his travels on the European continent.
In 1922, Laxness joined the Abbaye Saint-Maurice-et-Saint-Maur in Clervaux, Luxembourg. The monks followed the rules of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Laxness was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church early in 1923. Following his confirmation, he adopted the surname Laxness after the homestead on which he was raised and added the name Kiljan (the Icelandic name of Irish martyr Saint Killian).
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