GUDMUNDSSON, KRISTMANN

born Oct. 23, 1901, Thverfell, Ice. died Nov. 20, 1983, Reykjavk Icelandic novelist who gained an international reputation with his many works of romantic fiction, several written in Norwegian. Gudmundsson was the illegitimate son of a country girl who left him in the care of her impoverished family. At 13 he ran away and turned his hand to all kinds of menial work but, at the same time, managed to learn several languages. In 1924 he went to Norway and two years later published in Norwegian a collection of stories, Islandsk kjrlighet (Icelandic Loves). It was a literary success and astonished the critics by its mastery of Norwegian idiom and style. He followed that success with the publication of several novels, among them the autobiographical Hvite netter (1934; White Nights). Gudmundsson's fiction can be loosely classed as romances, family sagas, and historical novels. He drew a great deal on his Icelandic background and on Icelandic literature and social history, but the constant theme in his work is love (both physical and spiritual) between men and women. He was married seven times. In 1939 he returned to Iceland and began writing in Icelandic. His works have been translated into most of the major languages of the Western world.