Editing Ásgeir Ásgeirsson

{{Short description|Second president of Iceland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2017}}
{{icelandic name|Ásgeir}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[Excellency|His Excellency]]
| name                = Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
| image               = Iceland President Ásgeir Ásgeirsson. Jerusalem 1966 (D803-058) (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Ásgeir Ásgeirsson in 1966.
| order1              = 2nd
| office1             = President of Iceland
| term_start1         = 1 August 1952
| term_end1           = 1 August 1968
| primeminister1      = [[Hermann Jónasson]]<br>[[Emil Jónsson]]<br>[[Ólafur Thors]]<br>[[Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1908)|Bjarni Benediktsson]]<br>[[Ólafur Thors]]<br>[[Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1908)|Bjarni Benediktsson]]
| predecessor1        = [[Sveinn Björnsson]]
| successor1          = [[Kristján Eldjárn]]
| office2             = [[Prime Minister of Iceland]]
| term_start2         = 3 June 1932
| term_end2           = 28 July 1934
| monarch2            = [[Christian X]]
| predecessor2        = [[Tryggvi Þórhallsson]]
| successor2          = [[Hermann Jónasson]]
| birth_date          = 13 May 1894
| birth_place         = [[Kóranesi á Mýrum]], Iceland
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1972|9|15|1894|5|14|df=y}}
| death_place         = Reykjavík, Iceland
| party               = [[Progressive Party (Iceland)|Progressive Party]] (until 1934)<br/>[[Social Democratic Party (Iceland)|Social Democratic Party]] (1937–1952)
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Dóra Þórhallsdóttir]]|1917|1964|end=died}}
| children            = 
}}

'''Ásgeir Ásgeirsson''' ({{IPA|is|ˈausceir̥ ˈausceir̥sɔn|lang}}; 13 May 1894 – 15 September 1972) was the second [[president of Iceland]]; he served from 1952 to 1968. He was a [[Freemason]] and served as grand master of the [[Icelandic Order of Freemasons]].<ref name=Herdis>{{cite book
 | last1 = Baldvinsdottir | first1 = Herdis
 | title = Networks of Financial Power in Iceland: The Labour Movement Paradox
 | location = Iceland
 | publisher = Independently Published
 | pages = 62, 64–67
 | date = 2017
 | isbn = 9781549768071}}</ref> He also served as the [[prime minister of Iceland]] from 3 June 1932 to 28 July 1934 for the [[Progressive Party (Iceland)|Progressive Party]]. Ásgeir is the only person in Iceland to date to serve both as president and prime minister.

== Early life and education ==
Educated as a [[theology|theologian]], Ásgeir graduated with honours from the [[University of Iceland]] in Reykjavík in 1915, but was considered too young to be ordained as a [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]]. He married [[Dóra Þórhallsdóttir]] in 1917. Dóra was the daughter of [[Þórhallur Bjarnarson]] (1855–1916), 6th [[Bishop of Iceland]] (1908–1916). Her brother was [[Tryggvi Þórhallsson]], who was the 5th [[Prime Minister of Iceland]] (1927–1932).

== Political and business career ==
Ásgeir was elected to the [[Althing]] in 1923 at the age of 29 for the [[Progressive Party of Iceland|Progressive Party]]. He spoke as the [[Speaker of the Parliament of Iceland|speaker]] of the Althing at [[Þingvellir]] on the occasion of the Althing's 1,000th anniversary celebrations in 1930,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.althingi.is/thingmenn/althingismannatal/sogulegur-frodleikur/forsetar-althingis/forsetar-althingis-1875-1991/|title=Þingmenn|website=Alþingi}}</ref> and became [[Minister of Finance of Iceland]] in 1931,<ref name="formerfinmins">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fjarmalaraduneyti.is/radherra/fyrri_radherrar|title=Fyrri ráðherrar &#124; Fjármálaráðuneytið|date=25 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325200911/http://www.fjarmalaraduneyti.is/radherra/fyrri_radherrar|archive-date=25 March 2010}}</ref> and [[Prime Minister of Iceland|Prime Minister]] in 1932. He left the Progressive Party in 1934, but stood for election as an independent for a while until he joined the [[Social Democratic Party (Iceland)|Social Democratic Party]], and remained in the Althing until he was elected president in 1952. From 1938 until he was elected president, he was the director of [[Útvegsbanki Íslands]], an Icelandic bank which later merged with three other banks and became [[Íslandsbanki]] (which later became [[Glitnir (bank)|Glitnir]]).

== President of Iceland ==
Ásgeir was elected the second [[President of Iceland]] in a closely contested election in 1952, which had been called early due to the death of [[Sveinn Björnsson]], Iceland's first president. Ásgeir's main opponent, Bjarni Jónsson, minister in the [[Reykjavík Cathedral]], had the endorsement of the governing parties in Iceland, the [[Independence Party (Iceland)|Independence Party]] and the Progressive Party. Still Ásgeir managed to receive 46.7% of the vote, compared to Bjarni's 44.1%. The third candidate, [[Gísli Sveinsson]], a former MP for the Independence Party, got 6.0%.

Ásgeir was the first Icelandic president to go to Denmark on an official visit.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Fyrstu forsetarnir|last=Jóhannesson|first=Guðni Th.|year=2016|pages=107–110}}</ref> He also visited Norway, Canada, the United States and Israel.<ref name=":0" />

Ásgeir was re-elected unopposed in 1956, 1960, and 1964. Shortly after his fourth term started, his wife, Dóra, died from [[leukemia]]. In 1968, Ásgeir decided not to seek re-election. It was widely expected that his son-in-law, [[Gunnar Thoroddsen]] would be elected as his successor. However, even though Gunnar started as the frontrunner (according to opinion polls), he lost the election to [[Kristján Eldjárn]].

== Awards ==
In 1955, Ásgeir was awarded the Grand Cross Special Class of the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] (''Sonderstufe des Großkreuzes des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'').

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{Succession box | before=[[Sveinn Björnsson]] | title=[[President of Iceland]] | years=1952–1968 | after=[[Kristján Eldjárn]]}}
{{Succession box | before=[[Tryggvi Þórhallsson]] | title=[[Prime Minister of Iceland]] | years=1932–1934 | after=[[Hermann Jónasson]]}}
{{Succession box | before=[[Tryggvi Þórhallsson]] | title=Chairman of the [[Progressive Party (Iceland)|Progressive Party]] | years=1932–1933 | after=[[Sigurður Kristinsson]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Presidents of Iceland}}
{{Prime Ministers of Iceland}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Asgeirsson, Asgeir}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Iceland|Asgeir Asgeirsson]]
[[Category:Finance ministers of Iceland]]
[[Category:Presidents of Iceland|Asgeir Asgeirsson]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Althing|Asgeir Asgeirsson]]
[[Category:Progressive Party (Iceland) politicians|Asgeir Asgeirsson]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party (Iceland) politicians|Asgeir Asgeirsson]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Icelandic Freemasons|Asgeir Asgeirsson]]
[[Category:Burials in Iceland]]