Ólafur Thors

Who was Ólafur Thors?

Ólafur Tryggvason Thors, the son of Thor Philip Axel Jensen, was an Icelandic politician of the Independence Party, who served as Prime Minister of Iceland. Ólafur Thors was a member of parliament from 1926 until the day of his death in 1964. His first ministerial post was when he served as a substitute justice minister from 14 November 1932 to 23 December 1932. In his political career he served as Minister of Industrial Affairs from 1939 to 1942, foreign minister in his own governments in 1942 and 1944–1947, social minister in his own government from 1949 to 1950, fisheries and industrial minister from 1950 to 1953 and he served as a fisheries minister in his own government from 1953 to 1956. He attended the General Assembly at the UN in 1947 and 1948. Ólafur Thors led the Independence Party from 1934 to 1961. His fifth government with the Social Democrats sat under two other prime ministers from the Independence Party to 1971.