Þór Whitehead (Thor Whitehead) (born 19 August 1943) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic historian. He is currently a professor at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...

. Thor has written extensively on the history of

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. His best known work is the multi-volume series ''Ísland í síðari heimsstyrjöld'' (Iceland in the Second World War). He has also written about other episodes in Icelandic history, such as the Icelandic government's rejection of

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish refugees during the war, and the

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

policies of banning black soldiers from the American-garrisoned

Naval Air Station Keflavik Naval Air Station Keflavik (NASKEF) was a United States Navy station at Keflavík International Airport, Iceland, located on the Reykjanes peninsula on the south-west portion of the island. NASKEF was closed on 8 September 2006, and its facilitie ...

Education

Thor received a BA degree from the University of Iceland, an MA from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and his

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Academic career

* Research lecturer, University of Iceland, 1978–1981 * Professor of history, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland, 1981- * Director, Institute of History, University of Iceland, 1983–1985 * Fulbright Research Fellow and Visiting Scholar, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, United States, 1986 * Humboldt Fellow, Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt der Bundeswehr, Freiburg, Germany, 1986–1988 * Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Iceland, 1989–1991 * Visiting Research Professor, Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier III, Montpellier, France, 1992–1993 * Chairman, Department of History, 1994–1995 * Humboldt Fellow, Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt der Bundeswehr, Freiburg, Germany, 1996–1997 * Visiting Research Professor, Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier III, Montpellier, France, 2002–2003, 2005–2006, * Chairman, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Iceland 2006–2007

Publications

* * The Icelandic Literary Prize, 1995. * * * The Icelandic Booksellers Prize, 2002.

Sources

* Who is Who in the World 2009.

External links

Interview in the Reykjavik Grapevine

Þór Whitehead's website at the University of Iceland
1943 births Living people Thor Whitehead University of Georgia alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Thor Whitehead Thor Whitehead {{Iceland-historian-stub