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 Thor
Haraldur Thors was born on November 26, 1903 in Reykjavík Iceland. He was
the ninth of 12 children. He was the son of Mr. Thor Jensen from Denmark and
Margrét Thorbjörg Kristjánsdóttir from Iceland. Thor Thors father, was a
very successful businessman and industrialist in Iceland in the early 20th
century. When Thor Thors was 12 years of age, he started studies at the
only college in Reykjavik. When he had finished the college studies, he was
enrolled into the University of Iceland and studied Law. After graduation
from the University of Iceland, he studied international law and economics
at Cambridge University and also at Sorbonne.
In December 1926 he married his wife, Ágústa. They had three children,
Margrét, Ingólfur and Thor Haraldur.
For the next seven years, 1927-1934 he was the manager of the family fishing
company Kveldúlfur. From 1933 – 1941 he was a member of the Icelandic
parliament for the Independent party. He was also one of the managers of
The Union of Icelandic Fish Producers 1934 – 1940. He was the chairman of
the Icelandic committee for the World Fair participation in New York 1939.
On August 1st 1940, he was appointed Consul General for Iceland
in New York. On October 23, 1941 he was appointed ambassador in Washington
DC.
When Iceland became a member of the United Nations in 1946, Thor became the
leader of the Icelandic delegation at the United Nations and one year later
he was appointed permanent representative of Iceland at the UN. Later he was
also appointed ambassador in Canada, Argentina, Brasilia and Cuba. His
daughter Margrét Thors Clark died in 1954, at the age of 26. Thor died in
sleep at his home in Washington DC on January 11th 1965, at the
age of 61. His funeral was made from the Washington National Cathedral and
he is buried in Washington close to his daughter’s grave.
After his death, a Thor Thors memorial fund was established at the
American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF). The fund is used for awards to
Icelandic and US students to undertake study or conduct research programs at
the graduate level in USA for up to one year.
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Greeting Lyndon B. Johnson in Washington
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With
U Thant at the UN General Assembly in 1963 |
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A family picture taken
in 1945
From left: Ingólfur, Margrét, Thor Sr., Ágústa, Thor Jr.
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With Juan Perón
president of Argentina
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Thor and Ágústa at the
Icelandic
Legation reception in 1944 |
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