Icelandic diaspora
Encyclopedia
The Icelandic diaspora refers to both historical and present emigration
from Iceland
. The countries with the largest number of people of Icelandic descent
are Canada
, the United States
and Norway
.
:Category:People of Icelandic descent
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
from Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. The countries with the largest number of people of Icelandic descent
Icelanders
Icelanders are a Scandinavian ethnic group and a nation, native to Iceland.On 17 June 1944, when an Icelandic republic was founded the Icelanders became independent from the Danish monarchy. The language spoken is Icelandic, a North Germanic language, and Lutheranism is the predominant religion...
are Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
Famous people of Icelandic descent
- David ArnasonDavid ArnasonDavid Arnason is a Canadian author and poet who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with his partner Mhari Mackintosh.-Life:...
, a Canadian author and poet. - Linda BennettLinda BennettLinda Kristin Bennett OBE is an English-Icelandic clothing designer and entrepreneur, best known for setting up fashion retailer L.K.Bennett.-Early life:...
, an English-Icelandic clothing designer and entrepreneur. - Helgi DaníelssonHelgi DaníelssonHelgi Valur Daníelsson is a football player from Iceland, who currently plays for Swedish club AIK. Being born in Sweden, Daníelsson holds a passport of the country.-Career:...
, a football player from Iceland, who currently plays for Swedish club AIK. - Henry EinarsonHenry EinarsonHenry John Einarson was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1966 to 1981....
, a politician in Manitoba, Canada. - Magnus EliasonMagnus EliasonMagnus Eliason was a founding member of the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation. From 1969 to 1989, he was a Winnipeg City Councillor.He was born in Arnes, Manitoba, the son of Icelandic immigrants....
, a founding member of the Co-Operative Commonwealth FederationCo-operative Commonwealth FederationThe Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
. - Frank FredricksonFrank FredricksonSigurður Franklin Fredrickson was a Canadian ice hockey centre who was significant to both the amateur and professional sport as it evolved in North America in the early 20th century...
, a Canadian ice hockey centre. - Sturla GunnarssonSturla GunnarssonSturla Gunnarsson is a Canadian film director.Gunnarsson was born in Iceland in 1951. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, with his parents when he was seven years old. As he grew up he became interested in filmmaking and went to the University of British Columbia where he completed...
, a Canadian film director. - Hafliði Hallgrímsson, an Icelandic composer, currently living in Edinburgh.
- Gunnar HansenGunnar HansenGunnar Milton Hansen is an Icelandic-born actor and author best known for playing Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre .- Early life:Hansen was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, and moved to the United States when he was five...
, an Icelandic-born actor and author best known for playing LeatherfaceLeatherfaceLeatherface is the main antagonist in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror-film series and its spin-offs. He wears masks made of human skin and engages in murder and cannibalism alongside his inbred family. He is considered by many to be one of the first major slasher film villains alongside Michael...
in The Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the...
(1974). - Hera HjartardóttirHera HjartardóttirHera is a singer-songwriter from Iceland who now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. She divides her time between her home in New Zealand and a regular European touring schedule. In 2002 she was named Best Female Singer at the Icelandic Music Awards.A unique aspect of her performance is her...
, a singer-songwriter from Iceland who now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. - Bill HolmBill Holm (poet)Bill Holm was an American poet, essayist, memoirist, and musician.Holm was born on a farm north of Minneota, Minnesota in 1943 and attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota where he graduated in 1965. Later, he attended the University of Kansas...
, was an American poet, essayist, memoirist, and musician. - Jón Sveinbjørn JónssonJón Sveinbjørn JónssonJón Sveinbjørn Jónsson was a Norwegian poet, children's writer and translator, born in Iceland.He made his literary debut in 1973 with the poetry collection Manus. Among his children's books are Pelle Parafins Bøljeband: Serum, serum and Håkon Håkonsson...
, a Norwegian poet, children's writer and translator, born in Iceland. - k.d. langK.D. LangKathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...
, a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. - Guy MaddinGuy MaddinGuy Maddin, OM is a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films from Winnipeg, Manitoba...
, a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films. - Magnus MagnussonMagnus MagnussonMagnus Magnusson KBE was a television presenter, journalist, translator and writer. He was born in Iceland but lived in Scotland for almost all of his life, although he never took British citizenship...
, a television presenter, journalist, translator and writer. - Jón ÓlafssonJón Ólafsson (journalist)Jón Ólafsson was an Icelandic editor, journalist, and poet.He was the half-brother of Páll Ólafsson. He became a journalist in Iceland in 1868, but due to disobedience to the authorities, he had to emigrate to North America in 1872...
, was an Icelandic editor, journalist, and poet. - Peter PhelpsPeter PhelpsPeter Phelps is an Australian actor, singer and writer. He is notable for his role of Peter Church in the television drama, Stingers and Trevor Cole, in Baywatch...
, an Australian actor, singer and writer. - John K. SamsonJohn K. SamsonJohn Kristjan Samson is a musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is a singer-songwriter and currently the frontman of the Canadian folk punk band The Weakerthans...
, a singer-songwriter and the frontman of the Canadian folk punk band The WeakerthansThe WeakerthansThe Weakerthans are a four-piece Canadian indie rock band.-History:The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by John K. Samson, after he left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P...
. - Peter SteelePeter SteelePeter Thomas Ratajczyk , better known by his stage name Peter Steele, was the lead singer, bassist, and composer for the gothic metal band Type O Negative...
, was the lead singer, bassist, and composer for the gothic metal band Type O NegativeType O NegativeType O Negative was a gothic metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "The Drab Four"...
. - Vilhjalmur StefanssonVilhjalmur StefanssonVilhjalmur Stefansson was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist.-Early life:Stefansson, born William Stephenson, was born at Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. His parents had emigrated from Iceland to Manitoba two years earlier...
, a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist. - Stephan G. StephanssonStephan G. StephanssonStephan G. Stephansson was a Western Icelander, poet, and farmer. His original name was Stefán Guðmundur Guðmundsson....
, was a Western IcelanderIcelandic CanadianCanada has the largest ethnic Icelandic population outside Iceland, with about 88,875 people of Icelandic descent as of the Canada 2006 Census. Many Icelandic Canadians are descendants of people who fled an eruption of the Icelandic volcano Askja in 1875....
, poet, and farmer. - William StephensonWilliam StephensonSir William Samuel Stephenson, CC, MC, DFC was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor, spymaster, and the senior representative of British intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. He is best known by his wartime intelligence codename Intrepid...
, a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor and spymaster. - Chester ThordarsonChester ThordarsonChester Hjortur Thordarson — born Hjörtur Þórðarson — was an Icelandic-American inventor who eventually held nearly a hundred patents. He was instrumental in the development of the modern energy transmission grid with his work in transformers. He achieved his first distinction at the 1904 World's...
, was an Icelandic-American inventor who eventually held nearly a hundred patents. - Emilíana TorriniEmilíana TorriniEmilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir is an Icelandic singer, best known for her 2009 single Jungle Drum, 1999 album Love in the Time of Science and for performing "Gollum's Song" for Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.-Early life:Torrini grew up in Kópavogur, where, at the age of...
, an Icelandic-born singer currently living in London. - Bjarni Tryggvason, an Icelandic-born Canadian engineer and a former NRC/CSA astronaut.
See also
- History of IcelandHistory of Iceland-Early history:In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge...
- List of Icelanders
:Category:People of Icelandic descent