Magnus Magnusson

MAGNUS MAGNUSSON KBE, broadcaster and writer, is chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage, the government’s advisory body on environmental issues, which owns and manages the island of Rum as a National Nature Reserve. A lover of the countryside all his life, he was President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (1985-89), and was chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland (1991-92) before its merger with the Countryside Commission for Scotland to form SNH in 1992.

Known to millions as the television quizmaster of Mastermind throughout its highly acclaimed 25-year run, he also presented Tonight, Chronicle and Living Legends. He has written several books on archaeology and history (he was awarded the Medlicott Medal of the Historical Association in 1989), on his native Iceland (including Iceland Saga and Vikings!) and on his adopted country of Scotland (including Treasures of Scotland and The Nature of Scotland). He has also translated many of the classical Icelandic Sagas, and some modern novels by the Icelandic Nobel Prize-winner, Halldór Laxness. In recognition of his many services to Scotland he was awarded an honorary knighthood (KBE) in 1989. He is also a Knight Commander of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon (1986).