Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (; 13 May 1894 – 15 September 1972) was the second

president of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...

; he served from 1952 to 1968. He also served as the

prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland () is head of government of the Republic of Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president of Iceland, president and exercises executive authority along with the Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet subje ...

from 3 June 1932 to 28 July 1934 for the Progressive Party. Ásgeir is the only person in Iceland to date to serve both as president and prime minister. He was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and served as grand master of the

Icelandic Order of Freemasons The Icelandic Order of Freemasons () (abbr.: FaI), in English also known as the Grand Lodge of Iceland, is the governing body of regular Freemasonry in Iceland. The history of Freemasonry in Iceland began when a "society of brothers“, Edda, wa ...

Early life and education

Educated as a

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, Ásgeir graduated with honours from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) 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' school to a modern co ...

in Reykjavík in 1915, but was considered too young to be ordained as a minister. He married Dóra Þórhallsdóttir in 1917. Dóra was the daughter of Þórhallur Bjarnarson (1855–1916), 6th

Bishop of Iceland The following is a list of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, Evangelical Lutheran bishops of Iceland. The first bishop of Iceland was Geir Vídalín who took office in 1801. As of 2024, 15 people have held the office of Bishop of Iceland. Li ...

(1908–1916). Her brother was Tryggvi Þórhallsson, who was the 5th

Prime Minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland () is head of government of the Republic of Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president of Iceland, president and exercises executive authority along with the Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet subje ...

(1927–1932).

Political and business career

Ásgeir was elected to the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

in 1923 at the age of 29 for the Progressive Party. He spoke as the speaker of the Althing at

Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter thorn (letter), "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Althing, Alþing, the annual ...

on the occasion of the Althing's 1,000th anniversary celebrations in 1930, and became

Minister of Finance of Iceland The Icelandic Ministry of Finance (Icelandic: ') is responsible for overseeing the finances of the Icelandic government. The Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs is Daði Már Kristófersson. Organization of the Ministry of Finance The t ...

in 1931, and

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in 1932. He left the Progressive Party in 1934, but stood for election as an independent for a while until he joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, and remained in the Althing until he was elected president in 1952. From 1938 until he was elected president, he was the director of Útvegsbanki Íslands, an Icelandic bank which later merged with three other banks and became

Íslandsbanki Íslandsbanki (, ) is an Icelandic bank with roots tracing back to 1875, formerly being the domestic part of Glitnir (bank), Glitnir banki hf., but on 15 October 2008 being split from the bankrupt Glitnir and reestablished into a new independent ...

(which later became Glitnir).

President of Iceland

Ásgeir was elected the second

President of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...

in a closely contested election in 1952, which had been called early due to the death of

Sveinn Björnsson Sveinn Björnsson (; 27 February 1881 – 25 January 1952) was the first president of Iceland, serving from 1944 to 1952. Background, education and legal career Sveinn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the son of Björn Jónsson (editor and ...

, Iceland's first president. Ásgeir's main opponent, Bjarni Jónsson, minister in the

Reykjavík Cathedral Reykjavík Cathedral ( Icelandic: ''Dómkirkjan í Reykjavík''; Danish: ''Reykjavik Domkirke'') is a cathedral church in Reykjavík, Iceland, the seat of the Bishop of Iceland and mother church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, as ...

, had the endorsement of the governing parties in Iceland, the Independence Party and the Progressive Party. Still Ásgeir managed to receive 46.7% of the vote, compared to Bjarni's 44.1%. The third candidate, Gísli Sveinsson, a former MP for the Independence Party, got 6.0%. Ásgeir was the first Icelandic president to go to Denmark on an official visit. He also visited Norway, Canada, the United States and Israel. Ásgeir was re-elected unopposed in 1956, 1960, and 1964. Shortly after his fourth term started, his wife, Dóra, died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. In 1968, Ásgeir decided not to seek re-election. It was widely expected that his son-in-law,

Gunnar Thoroddsen Gunnar Thoroddsen (pronounced ) (29 December 1910 – 25 September 1983) was the prime minister of Iceland from 1980 to 1983. Gunnar was the youngest man ever elected to the Althing, Iceland's Parliament. He was 23 years old when he was ele ...

would be elected as his successor. However, even though Gunnar started as the frontrunner (according to opinion polls), he lost the election to

Kristján Eldjárn Kristján Eldjárn (; 6 December 1916 – 14 September 1982) was the third president of Iceland, serving from 1968 to 1980. Biography Kristján was born in Tjörn, Svarfaðardal, Iceland. His parents were Þórarinn Kr. Eldjárn, a teacher in ...

Awards

In 1955, Ásgeir was awarded the Grand Cross Special Class of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(''Sonderstufe des Großkreuzes des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asgeirsson, Asgeir 1894 births 1972 deaths Asgeir Asgeirsson Finance ministers of Iceland Asgeir Asgeirsson Asgeir Asgeirsson Asgeir Asgeirsson Asgeir Asgeirsson Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Asgeir Asgeirsson Burials in Iceland