Magnús Stephensen

Oddur Pálsson (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Born 27 Dec 1762
Died 17 Mar 1833

Places

Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Writer / Author

Resources

Stephensen's Works

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Magnús Stephensen was the chief judge of the High court (Landsyfirréttur) of Iceland for 33 years, a renowned advocate of the Enlightenment in Iceland and a publisher. Magnús was born on 27 December 1762 at Leirá in the south-west of Iceland. His parents belonged to two of the most powerful and wealthiest families in Iceland at the time. His mother, Sigríður Stephensen Gísladóttir, was the daughter of a wealthy county prefect and his father, Ólafur Stephensen, was a vice law-man of the north and west when Magnús was born, but later he became the first Icelandic governor of Iceland (stiftamtmaður).

Magnús was an unusually well-educated man: his parents were eager to teach him a variety of subjects as a child, and then in 1778 he was sent to the bishopric in Skálholt and

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1022 words

Citation: Pálsson, Oddur. "Magnús Stephensen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 November 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15208, accessed 21 November 2024.]