Gunnar Gunnarsson

Until the age of 18, he worked at the family farm and received his education attending small rural schools.

He started early writing poetry and short stories, and published his first books of poems at the age of 17.

After several difficult years, Gunnar published his first novel in 1912, the first volume of Af Borgslægtens Historie (translated into English as Guest the One-Eyed).

Using the Cain and Abel theme, this is the story of two brothers, one of whom is a dreamer forced to choose between his creative longings and duty, while the other is evil incarnated in the first two volumes, but returns as the saint-like Guest the One-Eyed in the third, having atoned for his sins through service to others.

In 1940 Gunnar travelled war-time Germany in an extensive lecture tour, also meeting with Adolf Hitler.

In 1911 Gunnar published Digte, a collection of poetry dedicated to his lifelong love and companion, Franzisca Antonia Josephine Jørgensen.

Franzisca Gunnarsson died a year after her husband, and they were both buried in the island of Viðey near Reykjavík, which used to belong to a Catholic church.

Its role is to support literary endeavours, with an emphasis on the work of Gunnar Gunnarsson, and to run a residence for artists, writers and scholars.