Þorgrímur Þráinsson

Þorgrímur Þráinsson (Thorgrimur Thrainsson, born 8 January 1959 in Reykjavík), is an Icelandic writer,[1] motivational speaker, former footballer.[2][3] He has been a spokesperson for health, humanity and justice.[4] He was a presidential candidate in 2016.[5]

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Thorgrimur.
Thorgrimur Thrainsson
Born (1959-01-08) 8 January 1959
Reykjavík, Iceland
OccupationWriter, motivational speaker, footballer (retired)
Spouse(s)
Ragnhildur Eiriksdottir
(
m. 1990)
ChildrenKristófer Þorgrímsson
Kolfinna Þorgrímsdóttir
Þorlákur Helgi Þorgrímsson
Awards-2016: Children's Welfare Award

-2013: City Artist of Reykjavík
-2011: The Children’s Book Award
-2010: Icelandic Children's Book Prize
-2010: The Children’s Book Award
-2005: 1st prize in a script contest of Reykjanesbær
-2000: Children's book award
-1997:Icelandic Children's Book Prize
-1992: Visa-cultural prize

-1991: Children's book award of Reykjavík

Writer

Since 1989 Thorgrimur has written 34 books. He has been Iceland's most popular author of books for teenagers. His books are listed among most sold, rented and read books in Iceland.[6] [see bibliography]

Statistical facts
  • According to statistics provided by Icelandic libraries, a book by Thorgrimur is rented once every 5 minutes.
  • Seven of his books made it to the list of the 100 Best Books of the Century published by Icelandic Publishers' Association.
  • Two of his books were listed as Best Children's Books of the Century published by Icelandic Publishers' Association, which is the second highest score after the Noble Prize Winner Halldór Laxness.
  • He is the only author in Iceland to simultaneously have 2 of his books in 1st and 2nd place on the Icelandic Record Sale List.
  • Two of his books were listed as Best Selling Fiction Books in 2010: The Fog and Are You God, Granddad?
  • His book, How to Make Your Wife Happy – Sexual and Practical Tips for Men, was the most talked-about book in Iceland in 2007.[7][8]
Thorgrimur Thrainsson, Iceland's National Team, 1990

Career in sports

Playing career

Thorgrimur began his career with Vikingur Ólafsvik in the third division, 42 games. He played 179 matches in the Icelandic Premier League for Valur, one of Iceland's biggest clubs. He acted as the captain of the team from 1986 to 1990, during this period Valur became National Champion 3 times and 2 times Cup Winner. Thorgrimur played 12 games with Valur in the UEFA Champions League, against Aston Villa, Juventus, Monaco, Nantes, Dynamo Berliner and Wismut Aue.[5]

From 1979 to 1990 Thorgrimur played 17 games for the Icelandic National Football Team, including multiple World Cup competing against teams such as: France, Spain and Scotland.[9]

President of Valur

Since 2016 Thorgrimur is the President of his former football club, Valur. As of 2018, five Valur players have been part of the National Team as well as some notable ex-Valur players such as one of the world's best footballers, Eiður Guðjohnsen who played for Chelsea F.C. and FC Barcelona.[8]

Work for the national team

From 2007 Thorgrimur worked for the national football team. The work included involvement with the preparations of the National Team to the participation in UEFA Euro 2016, in France, which turned out to be the biggest football success in the Icelandic history. He was involved in supporting the national team in their preparations to the participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[10][5]

Health campaigns

Head of Tobacco Control Task Force of Iceland

Thorgrimur was the head of the Tobacco Control Task Force of Iceland from 1996 to 2004. He was attempting to make Iceland the first country in the world to implement a smoking ban in clubs and restaurants. Iceland became the first country in the world to implement the Tobacco display ban.

The President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson was a big support to his work and some of the press meetings were hosted by the President in the President's residence.[7][8]

National Health Analysis Committee

In 2005 the Prime Minister of Iceland appointed Thorgrimur to be the head of the National Health Analysis Committee . In 2007 The committee delivered a report called: ''Easy life? -- how we can improve peoples' health by more activity and better nutrition.” The report suggested potential improvement of the population's health, implemented mainly in the area of diet, awareness of physical activity and mental health. The indicated strategy was prioritizing the youngest age groups, following the idea that a healthy child is most likely to become a healthy adult.

In 2013 he was the head of the committee again, this time appointed by the Minister of Health.[8][11]

TV reality show

In 2008 Thorgrimur participated in lasting 8 weeks reality show Cool in great shape by Basecamp Productions, which portrayed different public figures performing various sports and fitness tasks in order to have their biological age estimated based on their performance and health tests. Thorgrimur won the contest and at the chronological age of 49 Thorgrimur's biological age was estimated to be 27.[12]

Motivational speaking

Since 2008, Thorgrimur has conducted programs consisting of presentations and motivational lectures for adolescents aged 15–16, titled: "Be in love with life!" and for children aged 12–14, titled: "Be the hero in your life -- by helping others". His presentations encourage youth to be responsible for their life and future and to set goals. During the past 10 years his program has taken place in all the schools of Iceland. Thorgrimur’s program delivers approx. 200 speeches and presentations a year, which will reach 2,000 in total by 2018. Annually he also delivers about 25 presentations for the companies: ,,Great team spirit—what can we learn from the national team?“.[8]

Other work and activities

Editorial work and journalism

From 1986 to 1997 Thorgrimur worked as the chief editor of Sports Magazine, and from 2002 to 2007 of Toyota Magazine.

From 1985 until 1997 he worked as a journalist for 10 different magazines such as: Fiskifréttir, Sjávarfréttir, Nýtt líf, Mannlíf, ABC, Íþróttablaðið, Hús og hýbýli, Við sem fljúgum, Gróður og garðar.[8]

Politics

In January 2016, Thorgrimur announced his intention to run to run for presidency in the 2016, Icelandic presidential election. A few months later he decided to withdraw from the campaign in order to stay focused on motivational work with youth and to continue the work with the National Team during their participation in UEFA Euro 16.[5]

Anecdotal reports

Many anecdotal reports by locals and tourists in Iceland were published in media, depicting Thorgrimur as someone who "displayed a helpful attitude in an unexpected situation".[13][14]

Modeling

During his football career, Thorgrimur worked as a model for local clothing brands such as Icewear and Henson.[9]

Personal life

Thorgrimur is married and has three children.[15]

Awards
  • 2016: Barnaheill (Children's Welfare Award) for his contribution to the welfare of children[11]
  • 2013: City Artist of Reykjavík. Selected by the Mayor, Jón Gnarr, and as a result of voting by all political parties, for his literary contribution to the awareness and education of children and young adults[7]
  • 2011: The Children's Book Award for Are You God, Granddad?[16]
  • 2010: The Icelandic Children's Book Prize for, Are You God, Granddad?[8]
  • 2010: The Children's Book Award for Zero Zero 9[17]
  • 2005: 1st prize in a script contest of Reykjanesbær for Little red mouse[8]
  • 2000: Children's book award for The cow that disappeared[8]
  • 1997: Icelandic Children's Book Prize for, Much hides in the dark[7]
  • 1992: Visa-cultural prize for contribution to children's books[8]
  • 1991: Children's book award of Reykjavík for The tear, smile and football shoes[8]

Bibliography
  • 1989 Með fiðring í tánum
  • 1990 Tár, bros og takkaskór
  • 1991 Mitt er þitt - ISBN 9979-802-12-X
  • 1992 Bak við bláu augun - ISBN 9979-802-38-3
  • 1992 Lalli Ljósastaur - ISBN 9979-802-87-1
  • 1993 Spor í myrkri - ISBN 9979-802-40-5
  • 1994 Kvöldsögur - ISBN 9979-802-42-1
  • 1994 Amo Amas - ISBN 9979-802-54-5
  • 1995 Sex augnablik - ISBN 9979-802-32-4
  • 1996 Meistari Jón, predikari af Guðs náð - ISBN 9979-802-10-3
  • 1997 Margt býr í myrkrinu - ISBN 9979-2-1238-1
  • 1998 Nóttin lifnar við - ISBN 9979-71-192-2
  • 1998 Hjálp, Keikó, hjálp
  • 2000 Hlæjandi refur - ISBN 9979-1-0409-0
  • 2000 Kýrin sem hvarf - ISBN 9979-767-04-9
  • 2003 Litla skrímslið
  • 2003 Svalasta 7an - ISBN 9979-9607-0-1
  • 2004 Allt hold er hey
  • 2004 Undir 4 augu - ISBN 9979-9607-2-8
  • 2007 Hvernig gerirðu konuna þína hamingjusama
  • 2008 Litla, rauða músin
  • 2008 Þriðji ísbjörinn - ISBN 978-9979-3-3014-1
  • 2009 Núll núll 9 - ISBN 978-9979-3-3092-9
  • 2010 Etu Guð, afi - ISBN 978-9979-2-2119-7
  • 2010 Þokan - ISBN 978-9979-3-3199-5
  • 2011 Áfram hærra - 100 ára saga Vals
  • 2011 Steina-Petra - ISBN 978-9979-72-019-5
  • 2012 Krakkinn sem hvarf - ISBN 978-9979-3-3318-0
  • 2014 Hjálp - ISBN 978-9979-3-3491-0
  • 2015 Ég elska máva - ISBN 978-9979-3-3599-3
  • 2016 Henri og hetjurnar - ISBN 978-9979-3-3713-3
  • 2017 Henri hittir í mark - ISBN 978-9979-3-3884-0
  • 2018 Henri rænt í Rússlandi
gollark: You can never have too many tabs open.
gollark: Luckily, I don't have to worry about poor WiFi bandwidth because my *internet* connection is bad too!
gollark: Big text generated by `figlet` on Linux, the *cool* way to write bigly.
gollark: ``` ____ ___ ____ _____ _______ _______ | __ )_ _/ ___| |_ _| ____\ \/ /_ _|| _ \| | | _ | | | _| \ / | | | |_) | | |_| | | | | |___ / \ | | |____/___\____| |_| |_____/_/\_\ |_| ```
gollark: That's because you're eating dinosaurs, not birds.

References
  1. Review, Iceland (1 October 2010). "Winner of Icelandic Children's Book Award Announced". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  2. Þorgrímur Þráinsson at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. "Þorgrímur Þráinsson - national football team player". Þorgrímur Þráinsson - national football team player. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  4. "Iceland's first presidential candidate for 2016?". Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. Aarons, Ed (22 June 2016). "Thorgrimur Thrainsson hopes to write perfect script as Iceland's secret weapon". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  6. "Þorgrímur Þráinsson safnar peningum". Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  7. "Þorgrímur Þráinsson er borgarlistamaður Reykjavíkur - DV". DV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  8. Anonymous (5 July 2013). "Þorgrímur Þráinsson borgarlistamaður Reykjavíkur 2013". Reykjavíkurborg (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  9. Aarons, Ed (22 June 2016). "Thorgrimur Thrainsson hopes to write perfect script as Iceland's secret weapon". the Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  10. Burnton, Simon (4 September 2015). "Quick, hide the fruit bowl". the Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  11. "Þorgrímur hlaut viðurkenningu Barnaheilla". Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  12. "Cool in great shape", Basecamp Productions, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2008, broadcast on National Icelandic TV in 2008
  13. grapevine.is (24 November 2015). "Handsome Author Steps Forward As Presidential Candidate - The Reykjavik Grapevine". The Reykjavik Grapevine. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  14. Nútíminn (24 November 2015). "Þrjár sögur af handahófskenndum góðverkum Þorgríms Þráinssonar". Nútíminn (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  15. Anonymous (5 July 2013). "Þorgrímur Þráinsson borgarlistamaður Reykjavíkur 2013". Reykjavíkurborg (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  16. "Þorgrímur Þráinsson borgarlistamaður Reykjavíkur í ár". Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  17. Reykjavík: Vaka-Helgafell, 2010.
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