Magnússon was born in 1926 to a fisherman and farmer family in West Iceland. He completed his academic training at the University of Oslo, Norway, and at the University of Kiel, Germany, where he received his Doctorate degree in 1955.
Dr. Magnússon was a fisheries scientist at the Marine Research Institute (MRI) and its predecessor, University of Iceland Department of Fisheries from 1955 to 1996. He spent some intermittent periods in the Philippines and elsewhere as a senior scientist for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He also worked at Cape Verde Islands and Guinea-Bissau on behalf of the Icelandic Development Agency.
He became one of the leading experts on North Atlantic redfish and spent many years investigating deep water fish in the waters around Iceland. Dr. Magnússon was Deputy Director of the MRI during 1978-1994. He was an active member of ICES expert groups from 1971 to 1994, and he represented Iceland as a Delegate in ICES Council from 1983 to 1992.
Dr. Magnússon leaves behind his wife, Vilhelmina Vilhelmsdóttir, a fisheries scientist, and his three children Vilhjálmur, Sigríður and Dr Klara Björg Jakobsdóttir. Klara is an active expert on elasmobranchs and deep water fish at the MRI, and as such also a member of the ICES family.
We send our deep condolences to Dr. Magnússon's family.
