Þorvaldur Thoroddsen (6 June 1855 – 28 September 1921) was an Icelandic

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Biography

Þorvaldur was the son of the writer Jón Thoroddsen. He graduated from the Learned School of Reykjavík in 1875 and then immediately proceeded to Copenhagen to further his studies. He studied

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

but also nourished a strong interest in

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

; this was amplified in 1876 when he served as a guide for the geologist Johannes Frederik Johnstrup in an expedition to Iceland to study

Askja Askja () is an active volcano situated in a remote part of the central highlands of Iceland. The name Askja refers to a complex of nested calderas within the surrounding Dyngjufjöll mountains, which rise to , ''askja'' meaning ''box'' or ' ...

and the volcanoes at

Mývatn Mývatn () is a shallow lake situated in an area of active volcanism in the north of Iceland, near Krafla volcano. It has a high amount of biological activity. The lake and the surrounding wetlands provides a habitat for a number of waterbirds, ...

. Unable to complete his studies for financial reasons Þorvaldur accepted a teaching placement at Möðruvellir in the north of Iceland in 1880 and worked there until 1885 when he became an adjunct at the Learned School. In 1887 he married Þóra, daughter of bishop

Pétur Pétursson Guðlaugur "Pétur" Pétursson (born 27 June 1959 in Akranes) is a retired Icelandic footballer who played as a forward. Club career Pétur made his professional debut at ÍA and also played for Feyenoord Rotterdam, RSC Anderlecht (35), Roy ...

. They had one child, Sigríður (1888–1903). Þóra died in 1917.Steindór J. Erlingsson, page 1 (online edition). In 1899, Þorvaldur resigned his position at the Learned School. 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 ...

granted him a generous pension which enabled him to live in Copenhagen and work on research and writing. In 1894, he was granted an honorary doctoral degree from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and in 1902 he was named Professor.

Work

During his expedition with Johnstrup, Þorvaldur was stricken by the nature of Iceland's large uninhabited areas. He resolved to investigate the nature of the island, especially its geology which up till then had been sparsely mapped and studied. From 1881 to 1898 he undertook expeditions to gather data. During his work, Þorvaldur ran into the limitations of the 1848 map of Iceland by Björn Gunnlaugsson. Björn had concentrated his precise measurements on the inhabited areas and a significant amount of work remained to be done in the central highlands. In 1901 Þorvaldur published a geological map of Iceland, where he incorporated his corrections to Björn Gunnlaugsson's map. During the time he lived in Copenhagen, Þorvaldur wrote a number of books and articles on geology and geography, especially as regards Iceland. Initially he was a liberal evolutionist but his ideas on biology and politics changed greatly during his career and later in life he can be described as a very conservative anti-evolutionist. He was awarded the Charles P. Daly Medal by the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

in 1906. He died in Copenhagen, aged 66.

Notes

References

* Hintze, V.
Thoroddsen, Thorvaldur
' entry in C. F. Bricka (ed.): ''

Dansk biografisk lexikon ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' (usually abbreviated DBL; title of first edition written ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon'') is a Danish biographical dictionary that has been published in three editions. The first edition, ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon, til ...

: tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537–1814''; Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1887–1905; vol. XVII (1903), pp 283-5. URL last accessed 2007-10-19. * Jökull Sævarsson (2004). ''Iceland on maps''. Based on "Haraldur Sigurðsson: Ísland á landabréfum. Nokkrir drættir. Kortasafn Háskóla Íslands. Reykjavík 1982, p. 7-15. Slightly abbreviated, altered and translated into English." URL last accessed 2007-10-19. * Steindór J. Erlingsson (2001).
Hugmyndaheimur Þorvalds Thoroddsens 1872-1911
', in ''Skírnir'' 175, pp. 354–388. URL last accessed 2007-10-19. *
Dr. Þorvaldur Thoroddsen
'. Skólavefurinn 2006. URL last accessed 2007-10-19.

External links

* Thorvaldur Thoroddsen Thorvaldur Thoroddsen Thorvaldur Thoroddsen 1855 births 1921 deaths {{Iceland-bio-stub