Auður Sveinsdóttir Laxness, wife of late Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Halldór Laxness, passed away on Monday at the age of 94.

Born on July 30, 1918, Auður grew up in Vesturbær, the west-end of Reykjavík. She married Halldór in 1945 and they lived with their daughters, Sigríður and Guðný, at Gljúfrasteinn in Mosfellsdalur, which now facilitates a museum about the author.

Auður was a handicraft teacher by education and dedicated many years of her life to social affairs and women’s rights campaigns.

She was among the founders of Melkorka, a women’s magazine, in 1944 and was also on the editorial board of the magazine Hugur og hönd for a long time, writing articles on weaving, knitting and ancient Icelandic handicraft.

Auður was also an active designer, creating knitting patterns for Icelandic wool, including distinct patters for the popular lopapeysa sweaters, ruv.is reports.

Auður didn’t only serve as a homemaker, wife, mother and grandmother at Gljúfrasteinn but also as a secretary and close collaborator to Halldór. Her support proved invaluable to the author up until his dying day in 1998.

For the last years of her life Auður lived at Grund, a home for the elderly in Reykjavík.

ESA