Laxness, Halldór

Icelandic author born in Reykjavik as Halldór Guðjónsson. When he was three years old his parents, Guðjón Helgason and Sigríður Halldórsdóttir, moved to Laxnes farm near the capital, and this was where he grew up. His father was a farmer and road construction worker as well as an accomplished violinist, and he taught his son to play the violin. Laxness enjoyed reading and writing. His first published text was printed in a magazine when he was fourteen years old. He briefly attended upper-secondary school in Reykjavik, but without graduating. Laxness first wanted to be a musician, but after the war, and after publishing his first novel at the age of seventeen, he left Iceland and travelled to Europe.