Hörður Torfason (born 4 September 1945) is an Icelandic songwriter and activist. He has written plays and poetry, played numerous roles on stage and in several films, directed about 50 stage productions and designed and built stage sets for most of them.

Biography

Hörður is the son of the couple Torfi Benediktsson and Anna Kristinsdóttir. He is the second oldest of six siblings. Trained as an actor at the drama school of the

National Theatre of Iceland The National Theatre of Iceland (NTI) (, pronounced ) in Reykjavík, is the national theatre of Iceland. The theater, designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, was formally opened on 20 April 1950. Since 2020, the artistic director of The National Thea ...

in the spring of 1970, he also worked as a director from 1971. With his first album, which he recorded in the summer of 1970 (''Hörður Torfason syngur eigin lög'', 'Hörður Torfason sings his own songs'), he had a tremendous impact on Icelandic music and many took him as a model. Hörður has often been referred to as the 'Þjóðleikhús landsbyggðarinnar' ('National Theatre of the Countryside') because for decades he traveled around the country at least once every year with concerts. He has worked independently since 1973, which is to say that his music and other labour has not used the grant money of rich people or companies. Hörður has put out 23 albums. Already a national figure, in 1975 he was the first person in Iceland to publicly come out of the closet, which made him a human-rights activist. He was the inspiration and main founder of

Samtökin '78 Samtökin '78, officially The National Queer Organization in English, is the national queer organization of Iceland and non-governmental organization dedicated to the interest and rights of Queer individuals in Iceland. The organization provides e ...

. He was later also the founder, thinker, developer and spokesman for the organisation Raddir fólksins ('people's voices') in 2008 following the 2008 Icelandic financial crisis. He also conducted influential demonstrations at the Ministry of Education in the summer of 2008 over the case of Poul Ramses. As a thinker in the

Kitchenware Revolution The 2009–2011 Icelandic financial crisis protests, also referred to as the Kitchenware, Kitchen Implement or Pots and Pans Revolution ( Icelandic: ''Búsáhaldabyltingin''), occurred after the 2008–2012 Icelandic financial crisis. There had ...

and a human-rights campaigner, he has travelled widely around the world and lectured about his methods. In autumn 2008, his biography ''Tabú'' (Taboo), written by

Ævar Örn Jósepsson Ævar Örn Jósepsson (born 25 August 1963 in Hafnarfjörður) is an Icelandic journalist, translator, and author. Early life Ævar is the youngest of four siblings. He grew up in Garðabær, Reykjavík, and in Hafnarfjörður. He moved to Akrane ...

, was published. In October 2018, his book ''Bylting'' (Revolution) was published.

References

''Hörður Torfa''; af Tónlist.is

''Forvitnari en fjandinn''
an article in ''

Morgunblaðið ''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic daily newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper and the newspaper of record. Hi ...

'' 1988
''Hörður Torfason: „ólaunað og sjálfsprottið“ starf'', from Mbl.is 10.03.2009

''Hörður Torfason mótmælir við Dómsmálaráðuneytið''; from Dv.is 14.08.2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torfason, Hordur 1945 births Hordur Torfason Hordur Torfason Hordur Torfason Hordur Torfason Living people Gay singers Hordur Torfason Hordur Torfason