Jónas Kristjánsson

Jónas Kristjánsson (5 February 1940 – 29 June 2018) was an Icelandic writer, newspaper journalist and editor. He was one of the most influential people in the Icelandic newspaper history during the second half of the 20th century and was one of the strongest spokespersons for moving the newspapers publications away from the political parties.

Early life Jónas was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, to Kristján Jónasson, a doctor, and Anna Pétursdóttir, a bookkeeper. His grandfather was Jónas Kristjánsson, a former member of Alþingi and the founder of Náttúrulækningafélag Íslands. Jónas graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in 1959 and from the University of Iceland in 1966.

Career Jónas was a journalist for Tíminn from 1961 to 1964 Jónas founded the Dagblaðið with others after a conflict in the ownership group of Vísir on his editorial policy. The establishment of Dagblaðið marked a major breakthrough in the publication of newspapers in Iceland as it was the first major paper to be independent of political parties. In 1981, Dagblaðið merged with Vísir to form Dagblaðið Vísir, or DV for short, with Jónas serving there as editor until 2001. In 2002 he was the editor of Fréttablaðið and in 2003 he returned to the DV as a columnist. before leaving the post for good in 2006. From 2006 to 2008 he taught journalism at University of Iceland.

Death Jónas died on 29 June 2018 on the cardiology department of the National University Hospital of Iceland.