Hannes Þórður Pétursson Hafstein (4 December 1861 – 13 December 1922) was an

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 ...

ic politician and poet. In 1904 he became the first Icelander to be appointed to the

Danish Cabinet The Cabinet of Denmark ( da, regering) has been the chief executive body and the government of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1848. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister. There are around 25 members of the Cabinet, known as "ministers", all o ...

as the

minister for Iceland Minister for Iceland ( da, Minister for Island, ; is, Ráðherra Íslands) was a post in the Danish cabinet for Icelandic affairs. History The post was established on 5 January 1874 as, according to the Constitution of Iceland, the executive p ...

in the Cabinet of Deuntzer and was – unlike the previous minister for Iceland

Peter Adler Alberti Peter Adler Alberti (10 June 1851, in Copenhagen – 14 June 1932, in Copenhagen) was a Danish politician and swindler, known for the Alberti scandal of 1908. Family life On 6 October 1876 in the Church of Holmen the 25-year-old barrister (ov ...

– responsible to the Icelandic

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 "assemb ...

Biography

Hannes was born on the farm Möðruvellir in Hörgárdalur valley. His parents were Pétur Havstein (17 February 1812 – 24 June 1875) Governor of North and East Iceland and Kristjana Gunnarsdóttir Havstein (20 September 1836 – 24 February 1927) sister of Iceland's first bank chairman, Tryggvi Gunnarsson. He obtained the national

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

leaving certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

(stúdentspróf) in 1880 and obtained a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

(lower second class) from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 1886. He was member of Alþingi in 1900–1901, 1903–1915 and 1916–1922, and attended his last meeting there in 1917. He was proposed the first Minister for Iceland on 31 January 1904 from 1 February 1904, and he served as such until 31 March 1909. Then he became the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of the

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 ...

. In 1912 he was elected

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of Althingi, prior to becoming Minister for Iceland for the second time from 24 July 1912 to 21 July 1914, when he became managing director again. In 1917 his declining health forced him to resign his duties. Hannes Hafstein died in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

on 13 December 1922. In 1931 a statue of Hannes by sculptor

Einar Jónsson Einar Jónsson (11 May 1874 – 18 October 1954) was an Icelandic sculptor, born in ''Galtafell'', a farm in southern Iceland. Biography At a young age Einar proved himself to be an unusual child with an artistic bent. At that time there was li ...

was unveiled in Reykjavik. The roundels on his and his wife's graves (see photo to left) were also by Einar Jónsson. As a poet, Hannes Hafstein mostly wrote in the

national romantic Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

tradition, often with a humorous, even satirical, touch. His poems – like Hannes himself – were highly popular with the Icelandic people.

References

External links

Hannes Hafstein - Hannesarholt - City of LiteratureThe non-profit organization Hannesarholt's homepage
1861 births 1922 deaths Icelandic people of Danish descent Icelandic male poets Speakers of the Althing Home Rule Party (Iceland) politicians Ministers for Iceland {{Iceland-writer-stub

Biography

References

Further reading

External links