Matthías Jochumsson

Matthías Jochumsson was an Icelandic Lutheran clergyman, poet, playwright, translator and a social reformer. He was a giant in Icelandic cultural life in the decades around 1900. He is best known for his lyrical poetry and for writing the national anthem of Iceland, "Lofsöngur", in 1874. Matthías was, along with writer Torfhildur Hólm, the first Icelandic writers to receive an artist salary from the Althing in 1891.