Þór Saari (born 9 June 1960) is a former member of parliament of

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 ...

, the

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic parliament from 2009–13, representing

The Movement The Movement may refer to: Politics * The Movement (Iceland), a political party in Iceland * The Movement (Israel), a political party in Israel, led by Tzipi Livni * Civil rights movement, the African-American political movement * The Movement ...

. He was The Movement's chairman, a rotating post, from October 2010 to October 2011. He previously represented the Citizens' Movement.

Life and career

Þór (Thor) was born in Miami Beach, Florida in 1960 to parents Rannveig Steingrímsdóttir, from

, and Lee Elis Roy Saari, an American of Finnish descent. Þór moved to

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Iceland at the age of six. He renounced US citizenship in 2003. Þór worked as sailor (merchant mariner) from age sixteen to twenty-six. He went to college at age twenty-seven and graduated with a bachelor's degree (cum laude) in marketing from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

in 1991. From 1991 to 1992 Þór lived in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and worked as an English lecturer at the Euroaula School of Hotel and Tourism Management and at the Centre D'Estudis Catalunya. Þór moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1992 and studied economics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

from 1992 to 1994, graduating with an M.A. in Economics and an advanced certificate in International Economics in 1994. Worked as a research assistant at SOM Economics (part of The Brenner Group, 2 World Trade Center) from 1993 to 1995. He worked as a database administrator at

The Conference Board The Conference Board, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-profit business membership and research organization. It counts over 1,000 public and private corporations and other organizations as members, encompassing 60 countries. Th ...

from 1995 to 1997 and as an editor at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

headquarters in New York in 1997, editing the ''United Nations Statistical Yearbook, 42nd edition''. He moved to Iceland in 1997 and worked as an economist (Division Director) at the

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland (, ) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It is owned by the Icelandic government, and is administered by a governor and a seven-member supervisory board, elected by the country's parliament following ea ...

from 1997 to 2002. He obtained a teacher certificate from the

University of Akureyri The University of Akureyri ( , regionally also ) was founded in 1987 in the town of Akureyri in the northeastern part of Iceland. It is today a school of Humanities and Social science, and a school of Health, Business and Natural science. Over 280 ...

, Iceland in 2000. He worked as an economist at Iceland´s National Debt Management Agency from 2002 to 2007 and as a part-time lecturer at the Icelandic Polytechnical College faculty of business from 2007 to 2009. From 2007 to 2009 Þór worked as a consultant to the ''Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on its Africa Project on Government Debt Management and Bond Markets and to this day has ties to the project. Þór was elected to the

Icelandic Parliament The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what lat ...

in April 2009 for the Citizens' Movement, later

and has served on several parliamentary committees such as the Budget Committee, the Economic and Trade Committee, the General Affairs Committee, the Industries Committee, and as a member of the Icelandic delegation to the

West Nordic Council The West Nordic Council (, , , ) is a cooperative forum for the parliaments and governments of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. It was initially founded in 1985 as the West Nordic Parliamentarian Council of Cooperation but the name was ch ...

. Þór has been active as a union trustee for the Reykjavík Seafarers Union, Anti-Death Penalty Coordinator for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

(South-East Region U.S.A.), organizer for South-Carolinians Against the Persian Gulf War, activist for Icelanders Against the Iraq War and is one of the founders of the Citizens' Movement (later The Movement). Þór is also a member of Amnesty International, The Movement, Future Iceland, The Iceland Nature Conservancy, The Reykjavík Academy, Unity-Grassroots Association, The Reykjavík Angling Club, Wave-Democracy Club, and the Union for Democracy and Public Interest. Þór is divorced after a ten-year marriage and has one daughter, Hildigunnur, born in 1999.

References

External links

Althing biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saari, Thor 1960 births Thor Saari American people of Finnish descent Thor Saari Thor Saari People who renounced United States citizenship Thor Saari Living people Thor Saari Thor Saari American people of Icelandic descent