Axel Kristjánsson (18 August 1892 – 16 April 1942) was an Icelandic athlete and merchant. A well known athlete in Iceland, he was part of a group selected to showcase the Icelandic combat sport Glíma at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

Early life

Axel was born in

Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkrókur () is a Localities of Iceland, town on the Skagafjörður in northern Iceland. It is the seat of both the Skagafjörður (municipality), Sveitarfélagið Skagafjörður ('Municipality of Skagafjörður') and the Northwestern Re ...

to merchant Kristján Gíslason and Björg Eiríksdóttir. He grew up in Sauðárkrókur until 1907 when he went to attend the Gagnfræðiskólinn in

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

. He returned home a year later due to an illness but started attending Verzlunarskóli Íslands in 1909. In 1912, he was part of a group of eight Icelanders to showcase Glíma at the

In 1917, he married Hólmfríður Jónsdóttir and together they moved to

in 1920 where he later started his merchant business. In 1937, he became the

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Death

On 14 April 1942, Axel was seriously injured when the

Flugfélag Íslands Air Iceland Connect, formerly Air Iceland (, ) was a regional airline with its head office at Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, Iceland. It operated scheduled services under the brand of its parent company, Icelandair, to domestic destinations a ...

' aircraft ''Smyrill'' crashed shortly after takeoff from

Reykjavík airport Reykjavík Airport ( Icelandic: ''Reykjavíkurflugvöllur'') is the main domestic airport serving Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The airport is located about from the city centre. It is the domestic hub of Icelandair flights and has two r ...

. He died two days later from his injuries at a military hospital in Reykjavík.

Personal life

Axel had three children with his wife, Hólmfríður. Their son-in-law was the chief of the

Icelandic Police In Iceland, the Police (, ) is the national police force of Iceland. It is responsible for law enforcement throughout the country, except in Icelandic territorial waters which fall under the jurisdiction of the Icelandic Coast Guard. Police affa ...

, Agnar Kofoed Hansen. Two years after Axel's death, Hólmfríður died from an illness.

References

External links

Profile
at Olympedia.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Kristjansson, Axel 1892 births 1942 deaths Axel Kristjansson Axel Kristjansson Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Iceland Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1942