Þórbergur Þórðarson (''Thórbergur Thórdarson'') (Hali í Suðursveit, 12 March 1888/1889 –

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, 12 November 1974) was an Icelandic author and

Esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

. An ironist, satirist, volatile critic, and ground-breaking achiever in experimental auto-fiction, Þórbergur arguably remains among Iceland's most beloved 20th century authors. He is considered one of the greatest Icelandic stylists of his day, with an unrivalled vocabulary and astonishing facility for written expression. Therefore he was respectfully dubbed "Maestro Þórbergur". 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.

Key years

1888-1906 Grew up in Suðursveit. 1906-1909 Worked as a ship's cook. 1909-1913 Attended school without graduating. 1913-1918 Studied literature and philosophy at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

but was not allowed to graduate. 1916 Began collecting Icelandic vocabulary. 1918 Delved into theosophy and yoga. 1918-1925 Worked as a teacher. 1924 His mistress gave birth to their daughter, Guðbjörg. 1925 Devotes his life to Esperanto. 1932 Married Margrét Jónsdóttir. 1921-1940 Travelled extensively in Europe. 1974 Received honorary doctorate from the University of Iceland. Nov,12 1974 Died at Vífilsstaðir Hospital.

The 1934 trial for offending Nazis

In January 1934, Þórbergur wrote a series of essays for the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

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 Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

"a sadist". The Supreme Court of Iceland 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. Further translations are in progress.

Bibliography

* 1912: Nótt (Night), poem * 1915: Hálfir skósólar * 1917: Spaks manns spjarir * 1922: Hvítir hrafnar (reprint of "Hálfir skósólar" and "Spaks manns spjarir") * 1924: Bréf til Láru (Letters to Lára) * 1938: Íslenzkur aðall (Portions published in English as "''In Search of my Beloved"'' by Twayne Publishers, 1967) * 1940–1941: Ofvitinn (The Eccentric) * 1941: Edda (poetry by Þórbergur) * 1947: Í Suðursveit * 1945–1950: Ævisaga Árna Þórarinssonar prófasts, (memoirs of Árni Þórarinsson) * 1954–1955: Sálmurinn um blómið (The Hymn about the Flower) * 1956: Steinarnir tala (Published in English as ''The Stones Speak'' by Mál og menning, Reykjavík 2012) * 1956-1958: Trilogy about Suðursveit district * 1960: Ritgerðir 1924–1959 (essays) * 2010: ''In the Footsteps of a Storyteller'' (excerpts accompanied by photographs, Forlagið 2010) While only major work by Þórbergur are listed above he also wrote a number of essays and other pieces on a variety of subjects, besides writing in the international language of Esperanto.

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 and life.

Notes

References

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

External links

Thorbergur.is
– The museum's website * http://www.sagenhaftes-island.is/en/icelandic-literature/authors/nr/1121 – A biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Thordarson, Thorbergur 1880s births 1974 deaths Thórbergur Thórdarson Thórbergur Thórdarson Thórbergur Thórdarson Thórbergur Thórdarson Icelandic male poets Icelandic satirists