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Björn Th. Björnsson

Bio

Björn Th. (Theodór) Björnsson was born in Reykjavík on September 3, 1922. After finishing secondary school in Reykjavík, he studied art history at the University of Edinburgh from 1943 – 1944, The University of London from 1944 – 1946 and The University of Copenhagen from 1946 – 1949. Björn had a long career as an art-historian, teacher and writer, and sent forward numerous books on art-history as well as novels and essays. He taught art-history at Iceland's Art and Craft School, Iceland's Teacher's College and The University of Iceland. He was a member of the board of The Icelandic Broadcasting Company, and was one of the members of the preparatory committee for Icelandic television from 1953 – 1968, and was a representative at Iceland's Educational Board from 1968 – 1974. Björn was president and vice-president of the Writer's Union of Iceland from 1958 – 1964, a member of the editorial board for the literary magazine Birtingur 1958 – 1963 and head of the Art Museum at the University of Iceland from its foundation in 1980 until he retired in 1997.

Björn wrote numerous articles for Icelandic and foreign magazines and journals and did documentaries on cultural matters and history for radio and television. Björn's first novel, Virkisvetur (Fort's Winter) was published in 1959 and received first prize in a competition held by Iceland's Educational Board. His historical novels continue to be very popular in Iceland, and his books on Icelandic and foreign art-history are also widely read. Two of his novels are available in Danish translations.

Björn Th. Björnsson passed away in Reykjavík on August 25th 2007.