Margrét Þóra Hallgrímsson (28 January 1930 – 27 August 2020), also referred as Thora Hallgrimsdottir, was an Icelandic socialite and aristocrat who was the wife of the businessman Björgólfur Guðmundsson and like him was a prominent figure in the cultural and business life of Iceland from around 2002 to 2008. She was also the former wife of American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell.

Family and surname

Þóra was born in Reykjavík, the eldest daughter of

Hallgrímur Fr. Hallgrímsson Hallgrímur Fr. Hallgrímsson (October 17, 1905 – September 16, 1984) was an Icelandic businessman and political figure in the mid-twentieth century. Early and family life Hallgrímur's parents were Friðrik Hallgrímsson, a priest at Grund and l ...

, chairman of Royal Dutch Shell in Iceland and consul in Canada, and his wife

Margrét Þorbjörg Thors Hallgrímsson Margrét Þorbjörg Thors Hallgrímsson (April 22, 1902 – September 2, 1996) was a matriarch of one of the most powerful families in Iceland in the twentieth century. She was the eighth child of Margrét Þorbjörg Kristjánsdóttir and Thor Phi ...

, daughter of the businessman

Thor Philip Axel Jensen Thor Philip Axel Jensen (3 December 1863 – 12 September 1947) was a Danish entrepreneur who moved to Iceland at an early age and became famous there for his business activities during the first half of the twentieth century: he all but introd ...

. Although ethnically Icelandic, Þóra's father Hallgrímur was born in Canada. His surname Hallgrímsson is in fact his father's

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

, which his father had taken as a

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

when moving to Canada. In turn, Þóra also inherited the surname, giving rise to the unusual situation of a female Icelander with a last name ending in -''son'' (see Icelandic name). At 14, Þóra was sent to boarding school in the UK.

Marriages

While studying in England, Þóra received a marriage proposal from David Tomlinson, whereupon her father had her return to Iceland, via a spell studying in the USA. Once in Iceland, Þóra met

Haukur Clausen Haukur Clausen (8 November 1928 – 1 May 2003) was an Olympian and a dentist. Family life Clausen's father was Arreboe Clausen, a merchant and later chauffeur (5 November 1892 – 8 December 1956) and his mother was Sesselja Þorsteinsdótt ...

, an Olympic athlete and later dentist, and married him on 6 January 1951. Together they had Örn Friðrik (born 13 July 1951),Cf. 'Haukur Clausen', ''Morgunblaðið'', 13 May 2003, http://www.mbl.is/greinasafn/grein/730658/. but they separated just a year later due to Clausen having an affair with Þóra's best friend. On 3 October 1953 Þóra married George Lincoln Rockwell, an officer in the U.S. Navy and later founder of the American Nazi Party, moving with him to America. With him she had three further children: Hallgrímur, Margrét, and Evelyn Bentína. In Roger Boyes's account, :: Olafur Thors’s niece Thora Hallgrimsdottir was in trouble. Thora was a free spirit. At a ball in Reykjavik she had fallen for a handsome American naval Officer, George Lincoln Rockwell—a war hero to boot—and abandoned her marriage to a well-connected Icelandic dentist to wed him. All harmless enough, except that Rockwell became a founder of the American Nazi Party and one of the most active racists in the United States. One of his missions was to take the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

into the modern age; he coined the phrase " White Power", organized rallies, and operated a Hate Bus to stir up sentiment against African-Americans. Accounts of Þóra's divorce from Rockwell, which include Rockwell's own autobiography, and her return to Iceland vary. Her father Hallgrímur travelled to the United States in 1958 to bring his daughter home; according to Boyes, the family asked Björgólfur Guðmundsson to help convince Þóra to return to Iceland, but according to her son Björgólfur Thor, Þóra met Björgólfur Guðmundsson back in Iceland. Either way, Þóra moved back with her four children, divorced Rockwell, and in 1963 married Björgólfur. She had one son by Björgólfur, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, but Björgólfur Guðmundsson also adopted Þóra's children by Rockwell. Þóra's grandson, by her daughter Evelyn Bentína Björgólfsdóttir, is the footballer

Björgólfur Hideaki Takefusa Björgólfur Hideaki Takefusa (born 11 May 1980) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a forward. He formerly represented the Iceland national team, making three appearances in 2003 and 2009. Early life Björgólfur's m ...

Controversy over biography

In 2005, Guðmundur Magnússon published the book ''Thorsararnir'', on the history of the descendants of Thor Jensen. In the first version of the book was a chapter on Þóra's marriage with Rockwell. The book was published by the press Edda, but Björgólfur, who owned the publisher, had the author change the text. Moreover, he tried to buy the newspaper ''Dagblaðið-Vísir'', which had discussed the matter, in order to close it down.

Appearances in popular culture

Þóra was the model for the character Lilja Jónsdóttir in the novel ''Sakleysingjarnir'' by Ólaf Jóhann Ólafsson.Chairman of Landsbanki burning books?
, ''Iceland Review'' (December 05, 2005, updated January 30, 2014).

References

External links

''This Time The World'', autobiography of George Lincoln Rockwell.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallgrimsson, Margret Thora Margret Thora Hallgrímsson Margret Thora Hallgrímsson 2020 deaths 1930 births Margret Thora Hallgrímsson Margret Thora Hallgrímsson Thors family