Background
Stefánsson was born in Grundarfjordur in 1862 and went on to study at Reykjavík Grammar School and then the University of Copenhagen.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Doctor Jon Stefansson
Edit ProfileCareer
He wrote many books, articles and contributions to periodicals. At Copenhagen he produced a doctoral thesis (1891) on Robert Browning. 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 West. 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 London he worked for a few years as a lecturer in Icelandic and Danish at King"s College. During the early years of World World War II, following the occupation of Denmark, Stefánsson, speaking as a key figure among Icelanders in the United Kingdom 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.
