Sigmúnd Johanson Baldvinsen (22 April 1931 – 19 May 2012) was an Icelandic cartoonist, inventor and engineer. He was best known for his caricatures at

Morgunblaðið ''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic daily newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper and the newspaper of record. Hi ...

and his invention of an automatic release equipment for lifeboats. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Icelandic

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

in 1982.

Early life

Sigmund was born in Ibestad in Gratangen in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and came to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

when he was three years old. His father was Icelandic and his mother was Norwegian. Sigmund grew up in Akureyri but then moved to the Westman Islands. He was married to Helgi Ólafsdóttir but she is from the Westman Islands.

Cartoonist

Sigmund's first drawing for

was published on 25 February 1964 and featured the first landings on

Surtsey Surtsey ("Surtr's island" in Icelandic, ) is an uninhabited volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. At Surtsey is the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption whi ...

. He became a permanent cartoonist for Morgunblaðið in 1975 and worked there until October 2008. In 2004, the Icelandic state bought 10,000 drawings by Sigmund and made them available to the public on the website sigmund.is, which was opened in 2009.

References

{{reflist 1931 births 2012 deaths Icelandic cartoonists 20th-century Icelandic artists 20th-century Icelandic male artists Icelandic engineers Icelandic inventors