Blacklisted!

Halldór Laxness, circa 1948   Photo: Heimur

The Blacklisting of Halldór Laxness
By Chay Lemoine

Icelandic Nobel Prize winning writer Halldór Laxness was blacklisted by the policies of the United States government using the same fear and intimidation that threatened to ruin the careers of Hollywood screenwriters such as Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner, Jr. and American Novelist Howard Fast. Recently declassified FBI documents show that J. Edgar Hoover and the State Department of the United States government authorized an investigation of Halldór Laxness which resulted in publishers refusing to publish the works of the Icelandic writer. These investigations and later inquires were also aimed at ruining the reputation of the writer in the eyes of the reading public both in Iceland and in the United States. The United States State Department ruined the literary career in English of Halldór Laxness during the late forties and early fifties and prevented him from having continued success in the United States.

Independent People has been acknowledged as one of the great novels of the twentieth century. In celebration of its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2002, World Literature Today, a respected literary journal published at the University of Oklahoma, selected a list of the forty most important novels of the last seventy-five years. Independent People is on that list as well as numerous other lists compiled by academic organizations, respected magazines and newspapers. When the novel was resurrected in English through the efforts of novelist and academic Brad Leithauser it had been out of print for almost fifty years. Vintage International’s reissue of the English translation in January 1997 sold well which resulted in the reissuing in English of six Laxness novels that were previously in translation but were also out of print.

When Independent People was published in English in the United States in 1946, the book was a major best-seller. It was a book-of-the-month selection selling nearly 450,000 copies. Certainly Laxness’ publishers would be looking for a way to quickly follow up with another book now that the American reading public had an interest in the new writer. Salka Valka had been translated by F. H. Lyon and published in England in 1936. There could have been a quick reissue of this novel until translators could complete work on World Light or Iceland’s Bell, two Laxness novels that had already been published in his native Iceland. There was no follow up to Independent People. Even after Halldór Laxness won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955 Independent People was not reissued even in a limited edition.

In a front-page article in the New York Times, on Friday, October 28th, 1955, it was announced that Icelandic novelist Halldór Laxness had won the highest literary honor in the world. The article focused most of its comments not on Laxness’ literary merits but on his past political associations. He was portrayed as rich, hypocritical, anti-American, and leftist. The article states “informed sources said the Swedish Academy, some of whose members disapprove of Mr. Laxness’ political views, decided to award him the prize this year only because of the relaxation of East-West tensions.” When Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for Literature in Oct 24 1958, The New York Times headline read “Nonconformist Russian”. The fact that Pasternak’s novels were not allowed to be published in his native communist Russia contributed to the glowing account of his life. The article placed Pasternak in a pastoral setting, “spade in hand, digging in his vegetable garden of an early spring morning or pruning his fruit trees in an October afternoon.” He was described as living in “a quiet two-story wooden house.”

The New York Times could have saved its venom. By 1955 Halldór Laxness did not have a literary career in the English. J. Edgar Hoover, infamous Director of the FBI, had personally directed an investigation of Laxness that included surveillance in Iceland by the Icelandic embassy. The concern was that the monies Laxness received from the sale of Independent People were funding Communist Party activities in Iceland.

In a recently declassified top secret memo dated Sept 19 1947 with the subject line “Halldór Kiljan Laxness, Special Inquiry, State Department” Hoover instructs the Special Agent In Charge of the New York Office to “endeavor to discreetly ascertain the amount of money Laxness has received from the sale of his book in this country through the Book-of-the Month club. This information should be furnished to the Bureau promptly.” The New York Bureau worked quickly and in a memo to Hoover dated September 25 1947 details were given about the financial arrangements made between the Book-of-the-Month club and Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. The director of operations of the Book-of-the-Month club provided the bureau with the details.

Initially the bureau did not approach the officials of Alfred A. Knopf Publishers because Hoover had explicitly used the word “discreet.” The September 25 memo states that “since Knopf is the publishers of the work of Philip J. Jaffe, subject of Bureau case entitled “Philip J. Jaffe, et al, Espionage. In the course of this investigation it was noted that Jaffe was on extremely friendly terms with officials of the Alfred Knopf Company.” Jaffe was key player in the Amerasia spy case in which he was accused of obtaining over 1,700 top secret documents from a State Department employee. Not only were Knopf officials deemed untrustworthy but it was felt that even the Treasury Department of the United States could not be trusted to act discreetly in this top secret operation. The memo states “it was not deemed advisable to direct a letter to the Treasury Department for the above information in view of the apparent discreetness of the investigation requested by the State Department.” Of course word was out that Halldór Laxness was being investigated by the FBI and was a known communist. Laxness’ publisher did not reissue or translate any of Laxness’ previous works to follow the success of Independent People.

In order to assure that future novels written by Laxness had no chance of publication in the United States, the Icelandic Embassy fanned the fire and sent a “Confidential” or top secret telegram on Feb 22 1948 to the Secretary of State of the United States warning that the Laxness’ novel The Atom Station was set for release. “Legation informed it is bitterly anti-American in tone and advances thesis that ICE faces destructions in aggressive war US now planning…” Lest there was any doubt as to the motive of those who sought information the memo further states “Consider Laxness’s prestige would suffer materially if we let it be known that is income tax evader”.

The investigation continued and at this point it was decided that the Treasury Department could be trusted after all. In Mar 16 1948 Joseph Gorrell Chief of the Withholding Returns Section of the Bureau of Internal Revenue gave a report on Laxness’ tax status. In Mar 18 1948 the State Department warned the Icelandic embassy that “It should be noted that it is understood from the Bureau of Internal Revenue that any action the Bureau may take on the basis of tax delinquency in this case would very likely involve the publishing company and agents in the United States rather than Laxness.”

This warning by the State Department did not stop the American Embassy in Icelandic from following the movements of Laxness both in Iceland and outside the country and reporting these movements to the State Department. In a recently declassified top secret “airgram” dated Nov 5 48 it is reported to the State Department that “ Halldór Kiljan Lanxess has left Iceland for the winter and has lately been visiting France. He is believed to be in Italy. It expected that he will get in touch with Communist leaders in the countries through which he travels and will write articles for publication in Iceland and abroad.”

The House Un-American Activities Committee had begun its witch hunt in 1947 around the time of Laxness’ investigations. American writers during the late forties and early fifties who were considered leftist or had in any way supported the Communist party were not only blacklisted they were often jailed for refusing to name names before Congressional committees. Successful Novelist Howard Fast was jailed for three months in 1950 for refusing to give a list of donors that contributed to a hospital built for refugees of the Anti-Franco war. When Fast was released from prison he wrote an historical novel that his publisher Little Brown planned to publish. Pressure from the United States government forced them to reject the book. No other publisher would handle the novel so Fast published it himself. Spartacus because a huge success and a movie based on the novel was also successful.

If the American publishers were attempting to wait out the controversy before publishing more of Laxness’ novels, the jailing of Howard Fast in 1950, the McCarthy era, and the blacklisting of American screen writers were all factors preventing Halldór Laxness’ works from being safely published in English. American publishers had begun policing themselves and in order to avoid a confrontation with the US State Department and the US Congress they quietly allowed politics to determine what would be sold to the American reading public. The fact that Laxness won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955 did little to interest American publishers.

After Congress officially censured Joseph McCarthy in 1954 the insanity of the period began to subside. Giving McCarthy full credit for the travesty of the “red scare” may be giving to much credit to a sad alcoholic who used immoral tactics to further his career. The evil of the “red scare” was fed and nurtured by the American people and the popular culture of the time. McCarthy died in 1957 but his death did not end this especially horrific chapter in American history. The American press still felt the need to persecute when Laxness won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955. It would take several years to wean them off the “red scare mentality”.

In England publishers were influenced by the prejudices of the United States but they were the first to begin publishing Laxness’ books in translation starting in the late fifties. In 1958 The Happy Warrior was published in a limited edition in England. An English translation of The Atom Station was also published in England in 1961. The Atom Station was not published in the United States until 1982 by Second Chance Press, a small independent press in Sag Harbor, NY. Laxness began to see his books published in the United States in the early sixties. Paradise Reclaimed was published in 1962, The Fish Can Sing in 1966 and World Light in 1969. All of the novels with the exception of The Happy Warrior were translated by British television personality Magnus Magnusson. The books were not best sellers and were published by small presses or University press publishers. There was no mention of political controversies on the dust jackets.

In the late fifties and the early sixties Laxness and Iceland were comfortably and securely confirmed socialists and there was little threat of the country reverting to Soviet communism. There was little threat of that happening when Laxness was being investigated as confirmed by a declassified top secret CIA document. The document dated Oct 18 49 and declassified in Jan 23 78 titled “Current Situation in Iceland” states “The Communist Party, as such, is no longer an important factor in Icelandic politics. It can no longer make or unmake a government; it will lose votes in the coming election, possibly two out of its ten seats, and its chances of participating in the new government are nil.” Laxness visited the United States in Sept 13 59 and a memo was sent by the Special Agent in Charge in New York to J. Edgar Hoover telling of his arrival and that he was staying at the Barclay Hotel in New York. It is the last top secret document in the FBI/Halldór Laxness files. J. Edgar Hoover was now losing interest in the Icelandic writer.

For over fifty years Laxness’ voice was silenced in English. In 1997 Brad Leithauser wrote A Small Country’s Great Book for the New York Times Review of Books which resulted in the reissuing of the epic novel Independent People. As a result of that article and the surprisingly brisk books sales Laxness rose like a phoenix from obscurity to become recognized as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. In 1989 the Berlin Wall was torn down and in 1991 the Soviet Union fell. Six years later a novel that had been accused during the 50’s of being a socialist diatribe written by a “commie sympathizer” would once again capture the imagination of the American reading public. Today Laxness is acknowledged as deserving of the greatest literary prize. There is little chance that his books will be out of print in English once again and he has entered the International literary canon. English speaking readers and academics have accepted Halldór Laxness.

Halldór Laxness died in 1998 just one year after the reissuing of Independent People by Vintage International. He was 96 years old and had been suffering from dementia for several years. He may have had some realization that his book was going to once again be offered in English in the United States but he died before the full implication of its reemergence became clear. It is important that we acknowledge Halldór Laxness as one of the blacklisted artists of the period. He was not a novelist whose great work was lost because of a fickle and disinterested public, poor marketing by his publisher or because of some literary anomaly. Halldór Laxness and his great epic novel Independent People were victims of political persecution which resulted in the destruction of a world writer’s reputation. Generations of English readers were unable to experience one of the greatest novels ever written.

Chay Lemoine is a Laxness scholar currently living Edwardsville, IL. Chay has written articles on Halldór Laxness for Icelandic publications Mannlif, Grapevine and Logberg Heimskringla. This article originally appeared in The Icelandic Connection, and is used by permission of the author.

Hiding In Plain Sight – The Laxness Files (Revised)

By Chay Lemoine

For almost twenty years I had the privilege of researching and writing about Nobel Prize winning Icelandic novelist Halldór Laxness. By obtaining declassified files, I contended that Halldór Laxness was the victim of literary blacklisting because of his political associations under the auspices of the FBI. Utilizing the Freedom of Information Act, I spent years requesting, appealing, changing tactics – hitting all the federal agencies that I felt harbored information that could complete the narrative of Halldór’s literary exile.

I did receive much information that proved that J. Edgar Hoover began the Laxness witch hunt. But there were missing files and one page that I felt was essential. After years of dead end searches several years ago, I decided to call it a career. I had published numerous articles in Iceland, Canada and the United States, featured in the documentary Anti-American Wins Nobel Prize and I made some good friends during in my search. I packed up my research papers plus some rare books and donated these to Gljufrasteinn, the Halldór Laxness Museum.

After a sixteen-year absence I took advantage of a late-night impulse and booked a trip to Iceland to visit friends and to buy as many bottles of Lysi as an American can legally carry out of the country. When I mentioned to the curator of Gljufrasteinn that I will be visiting Iceland she asked if I would like to speak and take part in a question-and-answer session. There is no greater honor. I felt as if I was going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I of course immediately accepted.

I am aware that there are some that call into question the existence of the files or even that Halldór was blacklisted. The latter attack shows an ignorance of the Red Scare era in the United States. For some, history was made to be rewritten. It is in view of these arguments, and the fact that it would provide for interesting conversation during my talk, that I decided to pull out copies of the research material and see if there was more I could do to find the missing Laxness files. In 2004 when actively trying to gain access to the FBI files on Halldór I received some files that were seen for the first time and proved just how far the United States government was willing to go to enforce its political agenda. I was told that there were files that were not from the FBI and those files would need to be reviewed by the said agency. (I was not told the agency). I surmised that the missing files were from the CIA. The CIA refused to honor my request for the files. There is no doubt that there is something of interest in those files that I was denied access. When I received the original declassified FBI files in 2004, I received a call from the State Department asking me if I was “a journalist or an academic”. I was flattered to be called either, but I claimed to an “academic”. The State Department official asked what I was going to do with the files, and I explained they were going to be included in my Master’s Thesis but they arrived too late. I admitted I hadn’t even opened the envelope yet. It was on a flight to California where I was going to start a short consulting job that I first read the recently declassified files on Halldór. For the next several years I tried to gain access to the denied material.

After repeated requests, in 2007 in a letter from the CIA, it was acknowledged that the missing files were from the CIA and that I was denied access. I was told that the files were being sent to the State Department for review. In September of 2007, I received a letter saying that one page of the documents would jeopardize National Security. There was no appeal allowed on files that have a security risk, so there was no need to pursue that page any further. But there were other documents in Halldór’s file, and these were not classified as a National Security risk.

So, in 2008 I sent a request for help to Senator Barack Obama, the senator for my district. His office was kind enough to assist me in my search – and his office was also turned down. In 2010, I assumed I had a friend in the White House and contacted Secretary of State’s Hilary Clinton’s office. Perhaps I did have a friend, as the office took the time to place a phone call and asked me how they could help. I explained what I wanted and a week later I got another call saying that the CIA refused to release the files. I inquired if I could “ask a question regarding the files”. She tentatively agreed. I asked if the National Security one page file contained a name which could not be released. She said “yes”. In the years of searching, Senator Dick Durbin’s office also agreed to assist. I made phone calls to the offices of FBI FOI officials in the attempt to talk to them directly. It was years of frustration and denials.

In 2017 after the election of Donald Trump. I felt that the lack of “intellectual vigor” of the administration would possibly allow me to see those files. So, I filed yet another Freedom of Act request with the State Department. I was not surprised to hear that there were no files that had any information on Halldór Laxness. I was told that if the files are over 25 years old, they may have been sent to the National Archives. So, I filed a Freedom of Information act request with the National Archives. The official from The National Archives wrote a long and very informative letter. Finally, I received a response that showed an interest in assisting me. He told me that there were some old documents with Halldór’s name on them, but they were declassified long ago and not covered under the Freedom of Information Act. I could request them, but I recognized the file number as items of no interest.

After my planned visit to Iceland and my decision to revisit my research material I reread the letter from The National Archives. After years of receiving form letters, cursory responses written in governmental language, the letter from the National Archives seemed especially illuminating. The archivist was telling me that the files were not there. I was not paranoid enough to think that the files were destroyed. They were just not transferred to the National Archives. After the “national security page” was removed from Halldór’s files the additional files would be reviewed and then placed in the category of unclassified if the information was not sensitive. If that was the case the files were still in the State Department.

If the files were reviewed and declassified, then they should be readily available in the State Department Reading Room of declassified documents. The reading room is an online data base of some declassified files. I typed in “Halldór Laxness”. Five files appeared. I thought at first that this search may be connected to all Icelandic files, so I typed in “Iceland” and got two entirely different files. I typed many different key words, dates, including key words that seemed to be connected to the files showing in the Halldór search. These files showed up nowhere else. All of the files that appeared in the Halldór Laxness search were CIA files and all of them were referenced to Halldór Laxness. I felt confident I had found the missing documents.

I read over the files and found that Halldór’s name does not appear in any of the files. But a unique feature of the files was that they have one very important point in common; they all refer international clandestine activities. The files start in 1945 and end in 1949. Each file is a progression of how foreign espionage evolved. The files read like a short handbook of international espionage or reconnaissance. What first came to mind was the old Mission Impossible television series with top secret files and disintegrating tapes. I can imagine the file being thrown on the desk of Mr. Phelps with the caveat “your mission should you decide to accept it”. The first file is an interesting document from J. Edgar Hoover. The Hoover document is date September 21, 1945. On September 20, 1945, Truman asked the Secretary of State to develop an international intelligence program. Hoover wasted no time and the next day he dashed off his request. In this document to the Attorney General Tom C. Clark, Hoover petitions to have international clandestine operations designated under the auspices of the FBI (and no doubt under Hoover’s control). Hoover states in the document:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has in operation in the Western Hemisphere an intelligence plan based on simplicity of structure and flexibility of operation which has function efficiently, secretly, and especially since prior to Pearl Harbor, and has proved its adaptability to world-wide coverage by the effectiveness of its operation in the Western Hemisphere field.

Under the “Points for Consideration” section Hoover states:

“Foreign and domestic civil intelligence are inseparable and constitute one field of operation.”.

He uses Communism as an example of following the threat internationally. Hoover may have thought that Attorney General Clark would have rubber stamped this suggestion as he did to so many of Hoover’s wiretapping requests. But the other documents show that there were different options considered.

The next document dated October 25th discussed the combining the Army and Navy intelligence. The idea was to have an international intelligence program under the supervision of the Secretaries of the Army and Navy. This document is followed by a document dated December 15, 1945. This document reads as if the Army and Navy intelligence solution was creating some conflict regarding jurisdiction and budgeting.

The following document is dated August 14th, 1946. This document is of interest as it discussed the problem of the placement of military attaches in the consulates and the role these military attaches would play in world of international espionage. Should these military attaches be given the authority to conduct clandestine activities? Would other countries ask for the same arrangement at the embassies in the United States? Should these attaches be allowed to collect non-military intelligence? On the surface it would seem that the conflicts referenced in document had resulted in moving international espionage to a single agency.

The previous document beings to mind one of the first FBI declassified files I received written by Jack D. Neal, Chief of Foreign Activity Correlation dated September 5th 1947, to J. Edgar Hoover. The document states:

“Our legation in Iceland has requested us to inform them of the average monthly remittances Mr. Laxness has received in 1946 and thus far in 1947 for the sale of his book in the United States through the book-of-the-month club”.

This document ended with:

“If we obtain further information on Mr. Laxness, we shall forward it to you”.

It would not be unreasonable to replace the word “legation” with the word “operative” because it was obvious that in this situation the officials in the Icelandic embassy were spying on an Icelandic citizen in order to malign him for political purposes.

What I view as the most important document is dated 12/20/1949. Under the heading Assumptions parameters are given for international subversive activities:

2. That responsibility for these operations be not susceptible to public or direction attribution to the President or to individual cabinet members.

3. That authoritative controls exist to insure that in peace or war covert operation shall be restricted to projects which are clearly and directly in furtherance of national policy.

     1. Covert operations of a political, economic and psychological character,
     which by their nature remain truly covert and which are employed abroad to
     influence developments favorable to the United States…

After reading the documents I had to make some unsubstantiated inferences. Because these files had a direct relationship with the declassified files from the FBI, were from the CIA, and were currently in the State Department it was likely I had found some answers. I also had some questions? When were they placed in Halldór’s file? And why were they placed in Halldór’s file?

For obvious reasons I doubt the files were placed there one at a time. I believe that they placed there after 1949 after Iceland had joined NATO. The first three documents seem to show the evolution of international espionage after the war. The final document shows the justification for the lack of governmental oversight for the activity.

The question of why they were placed in Halldór’s file takes more speculation. But the inferences are clear. According to historian James Miller in his article “Taking off the Gloves: The United States and the Italian Elections of 1948” the CIA actively influenced the outcome of the Italian election about the same time the Laxness documents were created.

The U.S. intervention in Italy’s internal affairs took place in three stages. In the first (January to May 1947), American policymakers decided to commit a greater share of U.S. economic resources and political prestige to the person and programs of De Gasperi, the leader of the Christian Democratic party (DC), in an effort to break the deadlock within the Italian government and to promote essential reforms… At the beginning of the final stage (January to April 1948), public opinion polls predicted a Communist election victory, and the United States mounted an intensive and effective program of overt and covert action to defeat the Left (Miller 36-37).

The United States began its study on how to influence the political ideology of Iceland as early as July, 1947. Although not in Halldór’s files, I did find a file declassified State Department file (declassified in 05-2013) dated July 11, 1947 titled “Study of Possible Extension of US Aid to Iceland” (before the official beginnings of the CIA but apparently “borrowed” by the CIA since it is classified as one of their declassified documents). The document is lengthy (27 pages) and contains fears similar to what the United States had regarding Italy.

Under the heading The Communist Movement the CIA document states:

One of the most significant and disturbing factors in the Icelandic political situation is the increase in strength and influence of the communist party (p. 4).

Under the heading “Specific”

Because of the strategic importance of Iceland as a potential naval and air base the US considers Iceland to be vital to its security. Consequently, the specific objective of the US is to render permanent the present temporary arrangement, or an expanded one, but to deny the same to any unfriendly power. It is therefore desired to insure preservation of American’s long range strategic interests (p. 11).

Like Italy the CIA sought an economic “commitment”:

To prevent a sudden collapse of the living standard and consequent political unrest which might adversely affect US objective in Iceland, it may be necessary for the US to extend aid to Iceland over the next two or three years (p. 18)

Like Italy there were fears of a Communist political victory if the economy was not bolstered:

The chief beneficiary would be the Icelandic Communist Party, which would gain added strength in the country as a whole and would exert considerably greater influence in the government… (p. 20)

And, also, like Italy there was a push to endorse the policies of a particular political personage and party.

Under the heading The Stefansson Government:

The present Government, headed by a Social democrat and supported by the Conservative (business interests) and Progressives (farmers and cooperatives), is a desirable combination for US interests (p. 23).

Although Halldor’s name was not mentioned in this document there is a reference to the fears the United States had of Icelandic intellectuals:

The University is a focal point of intense nationalism, of Communist sentiment among certain intellectuals, and thus frequently a center of anti-American objectives (p. 14).

Whether any or all of the economic and political manipulations as outlined in the document were put in place, I have no idea. Was there overt and covert action in Iceland as outlined in the “justification CIA 1949 document? To use the language of the many Freedom of Information Act letters I received over the last twenty years “I cannot confirm or deny that United States had CIA operatives in Iceland between 1947-1949”.

I must admit to feeling uncomfortable going over these files. The academic scholar is cautious. But sometimes it gives way to common sense, and I am forced to admit that the United States was manipulating Iceland’s young, and fragile, political system with direct and indirect economic methods so that it would serve its own political agenda in much the same way the CIA interfered with the election in Italy. That’s not a brave conjecture since there are documents to prove this was an objective The new documents reviewed tell me that the CIA felt comforting engaging in whatever machinations needed in order to further the political goals of the United States. Whether the fears of the United States were real or imagined they justified their action.

Iceland was no Italy. It had no army and had not lost a war. Its value was that it was geographically significant. What exactly took place in discussions between the United States and Iceland from 1947 to 1949, until Iceland joined NATO? It is easy to cast the United States as the lone villain in this tale of international political intrigue. But I am curious as to what role the Icelandic leaders played in cementing a political responsibility on its people that took decades to reshape.



Works Cited:    Miller, James E. “Taking off the Gloves: The United States and the Italian Elections of 1948.” Diplomatic History, vol. 7, no. 1, Jan. 1983, pp. 35–55. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.1983.tb00381.x.

Reprinted by permission from Icelandic Connection - Vol 72  #4 


Hiding in Plain Sight

The View from Here, No. 4

The View from Here, No. 8

Halldór Laxness and the CIA

Vihjálm’s extended blog-post countering blacklist claims (Gooogle Translate)…

Debora examines Hannes biography of Laxness and the subsequent plagiarism case…