(1902-1993) was born at Hamarkot, a small farmstead in Northern Iceland, and was the fifth of eight children. His mother died when Tryggvi was only six years old, after which his home was broken up and he was sent to foster care. His childhood was characterized by drudgery and poverty, and at the age of 17, he went into service on a farm.

Tryggvi Emilsson published poetry and prose works, but it’s his three-volume autobiography that ensures that his name will be remembered and celebrated for as long as the Icelandic language is spoken and read. It‘s an important source of information about the life and struggle of the working class in Iceland in the twentieth century. The books, titled Fátækt fólk (Poor People), Baráttan um brauðið (The Struggle for Bread) and Fyrir sunnan (Down South), were published between 1976 and 1979. The first two were nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literary Prize.

“This book provides truly compelling evidence that the childhoods of Asta Sollilja, (a character in Independent People by Nobel Prize winner Halldor Laxness) and Maxim Gorky are far closer to us in history than we generally realize.”
THJODVILJINN DAILY