Sölvi Helgason, Date of Birth, Date of Death
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19th century Icelandic artist, philosopher and drifter
Date of Birth: 
About Sölvi Helgason
- Sölvi Helgason (August 16, 1820 – November 27, 1895) was an artist, philosopher and drifter in Iceland in the 19th century.
- If he hadn't been arrested, we might not know anything more about Sölvi than folk tales about his life.
- He never went to school, but was known to always be painting and writing.
- It is posited from his writings that he was mentally ill and suffered from paranoia; he was known to accuse people of stealing his work.
- He often referred to himself by made-up names as well as names of playwrights, artists, musicians and philosophers: Sókrates, Plato, Sólon, Melanchthon, Sölvi Spekingur, Sjúlvi, Húsfriður, Sjúlvi Hinn Vitri, Húmboldt, Spinoza, Göte, Hegel, Schiller, Schott, Newton, Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Vasco da Gama, Kant, Lamertine, Skagfjörð Norðlandíus, Beethoven and Shakespeare.
- Sölvi was convicted several times for vagrancy, falsifying his traveling papers or passport and for petty theft.
- He was often flogged and spent three years in prison in Denmark.
- Today approximately 100 of Sölvi's artworks and manuscripts are in the collection of the National and University Library of Iceland and the National Museum of Iceland.
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