Árni Thorsteinson

Árni Thorsteinson was a composer and photographer in Reykjavík.

After graduating from Lærði skólinn in 1890, he moved to Copenhagen to study law. While there, he gradually turned his attention toward music and also studied photography, while his interest in law faded.

After returning to Iceland in 1897, he established a photography studio, which he operated until the years before the First World War. A large portion of the portraits he took during this period later came into the possession of the The National Museum of Iceland.

Árni took an active part in Reykjavík’s musical life and was an accomplished singer. Among other things, he sang with the vocal groups Kátir piltar and 17. júní. He became best known, however, for his compositions. Around the turn of the century, he began composing songs to poems by various respected poets, and many of them quickly became popular, especially after the first songs were published in print in 1907.

Árni married Helga Einarsdóttir on September 15, 1900, and they had four children: Árni, Soffía, Jóhanna, and Sigríður.

Adapted from Wikipedia.