Jónas Kristjánsson (5 February 1940 – 29 June 2018) was an Icelandic writer, newspaper journalist and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. He was one of the most influential people in the Icelandic newspaper history during the second half of the 20th century and was one of the strongest spokespersons for moving the newspapers publications away from the political parties.

Early life

Jónas was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, to Kristján Jónasson, a doctor, and Anna Pétursdóttir, a bookkeeper. His grandfather was Jónas Kristjánsson, a former member of

Alþingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...

and the founder of ''Náttúrulækningafélag Íslands''. Jónas graduated from

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR; official name in English: Reykjavik College) is collegein Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains one of the oldest ...

in 1959 and from 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 ...

in 1966.

Career

Jónas was a journalist for

Tíminn ''Tíminn'' () was an Icelandic daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspape ...

from 1961 to 1964 and then the editor of

Vísir ''Vísir'' was an Icelandic newspaper founded in December 1910 by Einar Gunnarsson, originally only distributed in and around Reykjavík. In 1967, Jónas Kristjánsson (newspaper editor), Jónas Kristjánsson became its editor. In 1975, he left t ...

until 1975. Jónas founded the Dagblaðið with others after a conflict in the ownership group of Vísir on his editorial policy. The establishment of Dagblaðið marked a major breakthrough in the publication of newspapers in Iceland as it was the first major paper to be independent of political parties. In 1981, Dagblaðið merged with Vísir to form

Dagblaðið Vísir ''DV'' (''Dagblaðið Vísir'') is an online newspaper in Iceland published by Torg ehf. It came into existence as a daily newspaper in 1981 when two formerly independent newspapers, Vísir and Dagblaðið, merged. Early on it was one of the lar ...

, or DV for short, with Jónas serving there as editor until 2001. In 2002 he was the editor of

Fréttablaðið ''Fréttablaðið'' () was a free Icelandic newspaper. It was distributed five days per week. At its peak, it was the most read newspaper in Iceland. History and profile ''Fréttablaðið'' was established in 2001. It was originally owned primari ...

and in 2003 he returned to the DV as a columnist. In 2005 he was again hired as the editor of DV before leaving the post for good in 2006. From 2006 to 2008 he taught journalism at

Personal life

Jónas married Kristín Halldórsdóttir on 24 December 1963 and together they had four children. Kristín, who was a member of

from 1983 to 1989 and 1995–1999, died on 14 July 2016.

Death

Jónas died on 29 June 2018 on the cardiology department of the

National University Hospital of Iceland National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

References

External links

jonas.is
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristjánsson, Jonas 1940 births 2018 deaths Jonas Kristjansson Jonas Kristjansson Jonas Kristjansson 20th-century Icelandic male writers