Þór Saari (born 9 June 1960) is a former

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...

, the

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

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 Movemen ...

. 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 Reykjavik, 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 in 1991. From 1991 to 1992 Þór lived in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

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 or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1992 and studied economics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

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) non-profit business membership and research group organization. It counts over 1,000 public and private corporations and other organizations as members, encompassing 60 countries. The Conference Board co ...

from 1995 to 1997 and as an editor at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

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, Seðlabanki Íslands) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It has served in this capacity since 1961, when it was created by an act of the Alþingi out of the central banking department of Landsbank ...

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

University of Akureyri The University of Akureyri ( is, Háskólinn á Akureyri , regionally also ) was founded in 1987 in the town of Akureyri in the northeastern part of Iceland. It is today a school of health sciences, humanities and social science, and a school of b ...

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 Icelandic refers to anything of, from, or related to Iceland and may refer to: *Icelandic people *Icelandic language *Icelandic alphabet *Icelandic cuisine See also * Icelander (disambiguation) * Icelandic Airlines, a predecessor of Icelandair * ...

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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembl ...

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 ( da, Vestnordisk Råd, kl, Nunat Avannarliit Killiit Siunnersuisoqatigiiffiat, fo, Útnorðurráðið, is, Vestnorræna ráðið) is a cooperation forum of the parliaments and governments of Greenland, the Faroe Islands ...

. Þór has been active as a union trustee for the Reykjavik 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 it has more than ten million members and sup ...

(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 Reykjavik Academy, Unity-Grassroots Association, The Reykjavik 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 Living people 1960 births Thor Saari Thor Saari Thor Saari Thor Saari American people of Finnish descent Thor Saari Thor Saari Former United States citizens