Þórbergur Þórðarson (''Thórbergur Thórdarson'') (Hali í Suðursveit, 12 March 1888/1889 – Reykjavík, 12 November 1974) was an Icelandic author and Esperantist. An ironist, satirist, volatile critic, and ground-breaking achiever in experimental auto-fiction, Þórbergur arguably remains among Iceland's most beloved 20th century authors. Þórbergur was an autodidact. As recounted in his largely autobiographical works, ''Íslenzkur aðall'' (1938) and ''Ofvitinn'' (1940), Þórbergur lived in poverty for much of his youth and early adulthood and could not afford secondary or higher education.

The 1934 trial for offending Nazis

In January 1934, Þórbergur wrote a series of essays for the socialist daily ''Alþýðublaðið'', titled "The Nazis' Sadistic Appetite" ("Kvalaþorsti nazista"). Iceland's public prosecutor filed charges against Þórðarson for supposedly offensive clauses in the article, one of which labelled Adolf Hitler "a sadist". The

Supreme Court of Iceland The Supreme Court of Iceland (, lit. ''Highest Court of Iceland'') is the final court of appeal in the judiciary of Iceland. It is also the oldest of the current courts of law in Iceland and the highest of the three Icelandic court branches, t ...

agreed with the prosecutor and found the author guilty of "derogating a foreign nation". The court sentenced Þórbergur to pay a fine of 200 krónur.„Æra Hitlers metin á 200 krónur“, grein í Alþýðublaðinu, 103. tbl, 1. ágúst 1997, bls. 8.
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English translations

The relatively little of Þórbergur's work which has been translated into English consists mainly of fragments from his larger works. Portions of ''Íslenzkur aðall'' (1938) were published as ''In Search of My Beloved'' in 1967. In recent years, Professor Julian Meldon D'arcy has translated a fragment from ''Bréf til Láru'' (1924) as a short story, titled "When I got pregnant", as well as the first full book to appear in English translation: ''The Stones Speak'' (2012), Þórbergur's childhood memoirs, originally published as ''Steinarnir tala'' in 1956.

Bibliography

* 1915: Hálfir skósólar * 1917: Spaks manns spjarir * 1922: Hvítir hrafnar (reprint of "Hálfir skósólar" and "Spaks manns spjarir") * 1924: Bréf til Láru * 1938: Íslenzkur aðall (Portions published in English as ''In Search of My Beloved'' by Twayne Publishers, 1967) * 1940–1941: Ofvitinn * 1945–1950: Ævisaga Árna Þórarinssonar prófasts, (memoirs of Árni Þórarinsson) * 1954–1955: Sálmurinn um blómið * 1956: Steinarnir tala (Published in English as ''The Stones Speak'' by Mál og menning, Reykjavík 2012) * 1960: Ritgerðir 1924–1959 (essays) * 1975: Í Suðursveit * 2010: ''In the Footsteps of a Storyteller'' (excerpts accompanied by photographs, Forlagið 2010)

Museum

On 30 June, 2006, a museum and cultural centre was opened in Hali, Suðursveit. It is called the Þórbergssetur, and is dedicated to Þórbergur's work.

Notes

References

* ''Íslenska Alfræðiorðabókin P-Ö. 1990.'' Editors: Dóra Hafsteinsdóttir and Sigríður Harðardóttir. Örn og Örlygur hf., Reykjavík.

External links

Thorbergur.is
– The museum's website * http://www.sagenhaftes-island.is/en/icelandic-literature/authors/nr/1121 – A biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Thordarson, Thorbergur 1889 births 1974 deaths Þórbergur Þórðarson Þórbergur Þórðarson Þórbergur Þórðarson Þórbergur Þórðarson Þórbergur Þórðarson Þórbergur Þórðarson