Gunnar Pétursson Thorsteinsson (26 June 1894 – 5 March 1921) was an Icelandic footballer. He is considered one of Iceland's first great footballers.

Early life and family

Gunnar was the son of the entrepreneur

Pétur J. Thorsteinsson Pétur Jens Thorsteinsson (4 June 1854 – 27 July 1929) was an Icelandic businessman, merchant and entrepreneur. He was one of the key founders of Milljónarfélagið along with Thor Jensen. Family Pétur was married to Ásthildur Guðmu ...

and Ásthildur Guðmundsdóttir. He grew up in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. Among Gunnar's siblings were footballers

Friðþjófur Thorsteinsson Friðþjófur Thorsteinsson Pétursson (28 August 1895 – 13 April 1967) was an Icelandic footballer, coach and former chairman of Fram. He is considered one of Iceland's first great footballers. Early life and family Friðþjófur was the son ...

and Samúel Thorsteinsson and artist Guðmundur "Muggur" Thorsteinsson. Gunnar joined Fram in 1913, quickly becoming one of their best players. He was the Icelandic tournaments top goal scorer during the 1917 season.

Death

In the fall of 1919, Gunnar fell ill with

pulmonary tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. He died in May 1921 in

Søllerød Søllerød is a suburban district of Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village, one of the oldest in the area, is perched on Søllerød Hill on the south side of Søllerød Lake. It merged with ...

, Denmark, from the illness. At the time of his death, he was engaged to Nína Sæmundsdóttir.

Honours, trophies and achievements

Titles

* Icelandic Championships (3): ** 1913, 1914,

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

Individual

* Icelandic tournament top goal scorer: **

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorsteinsson, Gunnar 1894 births 1921 deaths Men's association football midfielders Gunnar Thorsteinsson Gunnar Thorsteinsson 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Denmark