Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran

Who was Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran?

Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran was an Icelandic editor, novelist, poet, playwright and prominent spiritualist.

Einar Kvaran was the son of Rev. Hjörleifur Einarsson and Guðlaug Eyjólfsdóttir. His name was originally Einar Hjörleifsson but he adopted the family name Kvaran in 1916.

Einar graduated in 1881 from the College of Iceland, known as the Latin School. As a student in economics at the University of Copenhagen in 1882, he was one of four students to publish the single issue of the literary periodical Verðandi, which introduced to Iceland the Modern Breakthrough expounded by Georg Brandes. Einar was one of the pioneers of realism in Icelandic writing; his stories and novels represent a break with past admiration of the sagas: they are written in educated contemporary language and deal with ordinary people and problems.