Oddur Bjornsson

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Oddur Björnsson (born October 25, 1932 on the farm Ásar in the former rural community Skaftártunguhreppur, today Skaftárhreppur ; † November 21, 2011 in Reykjavík ) was an Icelandic playwright and theater director.

life and work

Oddur's father, the Lutheran pastor Björn O. Björnsson (1895–1975), emerged as a prolific writer and translator (among other things he translated gods, graves and scholars from CW Ceram from German into Icelandic). The son of Björn and his wife Guðríður Vigfúsdóttir (1901–1973), Oddur was born in 1932 on the farm Ásar in southern Iceland.

After graduating from Akureyri's high school ( Isl. Menntaskólinn ) , Oddur studied theater studies at the University of Vienna from 1954 to 1956 . After his return to Iceland, he first worked in Reykjavík as a librarian in the city library and as a teacher at the trade school.

His main activity became his involvement in the dramatic field as a writer and director. For many years he worked for the Icelandic National Theater; from 1978 to 1980 Oddur was the artistic director of the Akureyri Theater ( Leikfélag Akureyrar ). Oddur Björnsson has written about forty plays and is considered one of the pioneers of modern theater in Iceland. The Icelandic writer Örnólfur Árnason , who was friends with Oddur, described his early plays, the theater of the absurd attributed to short satires and fantasies like Amalia , Kóngulóin ( "The Spider") and Parti ( "Party") as "pioneering work" ( tímamótaverkum ) . Larger-scale plays by Oddur Björnsson were later performed at the National Theater. In addition, he wrote dozens of works for radio and television, published the short novel Kvörnin ("Die Mühle", 1967) as well as a children's book and illustrated children's books by his brother Vigfús Björnsson , who published under the pseudonym Gestur Hannson .

family

Oddur Björnsson was married twice, both marriages were divorced. One of the two children who emerged from the first marriage is the director, screenwriter, film producer and musician Hilmar Oddsson . Hilmar's daughter is active as an actress under the stage name Hera Hilmar .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Björn O. Björnsson ( Icelandic ) In: Ísmús . Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  2. ↑ Fornar grafir og fræðimenn (entry in the Icelandic union catalog Gegnir ) . Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d Sigrún Björnsdóttir: Oddur Bjornsson ( Icelandic ) In: mbl.is . Morgunblaðið . November 30, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b c Látinn er Oddur Björnsson leikskáld. "Módernistinn í íslenskri leikritun" ( Icelandic ) In: Eyjan . November 22, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  5. ↑ Europe . In: Don Rubin (Ed.): The world encyclopedia of contemporary theater . Volume 1. Routledge, London / New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-415-86762-7 , pp. 455 .
Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .


personal data
SURNAME Oddur Bjornsson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Icelandic playwright and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Skaftártunguhreppur
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 2011
Place of death Reykjavík