Dr Jón Stefánsson (1862-1952) was an Icelandic scholar. He wrote many books, articles and contributions to periodicals. Stefánsson was born in Grundarfjordur in 1862 and went on to study at Reykjavík Grammar School and then the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. At Copenhagen he produced a doctoral thesis (1891) on

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settin ...

. Shortly after he left Copenhagen for London where he was to spend much of the next 50 years. In 1897 he took the British artist and scholar W. G. Collingwood on a tour of Iceland. Jón and Collingwood co-authored ''A pilgrimage to the saga-steads of Iceland'' with illustrations by Collingwood. They also collaborated on a translation of one of the sagas. In October 1918 he married a widowed French Mauritian woman, Adrienne de Chazal. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Mauritius but Jon became ill and returned to Iceland and then back to London. In London he spent much of his time in the

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writing but he was also an acquaintance of a wide range of scholars including

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, William Paton Ker,

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and

Israel Gollancz Sir Israel Gollancz, FBA (13 July 1863 – 23 June 1930) was a scholar of early English literature and of Shakespeare. He was Professor of English Language and Literature at King's College, London, from 1903 to 1930. Gollancz was born 13 July ...

. In London he worked for a few years as a lecturer in Icelandic and Danish at

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. During the early years of

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, following the occupation of Denmark, Stefánsson, speaking as a key figure among Icelanders in the UK suggested to Churchill that Icelanders might welcome the occupation of Iceland by the British. In his old age Stefánsson wrote an autobiography or memoir which was published in 1949. ''Úti í heimi: endurminningar'' (Out in the World).Jón Stefánsson. (1949). ''Úti í heimi: endurminningar''. Reykjavík: Bókfellsútgáfan.

References

1862 births 1952 deaths Jón Stefánsson Jón Stefánsson Academics of King's College London {{Iceland-academic-bio-stub