Hjörleifur Guttormsson

About the author

Hjörleifur Guttormsson was born and raised at Hallormsstaður in Skógar on October 31, 1935. He graduated from the mathematics department of Akureyri Junior College in 1955 and received a degree in biology from The University of Leipzig in 1963. Hjörleifur has been a teacher, nature researcher and has been involved in various organizations. In 1978, he was elected to parliament, where he held a seat continuously until 1999. Between 1978 and 1983 he was Minister of Industry and Energy, spanning two governments. Since 1970 he has been very active in the field of nature conservation, both locally and internationally. During the 70's, he was curator of the Natural History Museum of Neskaupsstaður and co-editor of the periodical Týlir.

Hjörleifur has authored a large amount of material in newspapers and magazines – on politics, biology and cultural affairs. His first book, Vistkreppa eða náttúruvernd (Ecological Crisis or Conservation), appeared in 1974. In the same year, he wrote the yearbook of the Icelandic Touring Association, which described the mountains of the eastern fjords. He has since written four other yearbooks for the association. Following the massive sub-glacial eruption in Vatnajökull in 1996, he co-authored the work Leyndardómar Vatnajökuls (The Mysteries of Vatnajökull) with Oddur Sigurðsson. In 1999, at the end of his parliamentary career, his suggestion of founding the Vatnajökull National Park was passed into law.

Hjörleifur has received awards from the Icelandic Touring Association for his work on the organization's behalf. The book Hallormsstaður í Skógum (Hallormsstaður in Skógar) by him and Sigurður Blöndal received the DV Cultural Prize in 2005, and his 2008 yearbook for the Touring Association was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in 2008.

Non-fiction

Travel books:

Úthérað ásamt Borgarfirði eystra, Víkum og Loðmundarfirði, 2008: Ferðafélag Íslands

Hallormsstaður í Skógum (with Sigurður Blöndal et al.), 2005: Mál og menning

Austfirðir frá Reyðarfirði til Seyðisfjarðar, 2005: Ferðafélag Íslands

Austfirðir frá Álftafirði til Fáskrúðsfjarðar, 2002: Ferðafélag Íslands

Leyndardómar Vatnajökuls (with Oddur Sigurðsson), 1997: Fjöll og firnindi

Við rætur Vatnajökuls, 1993: Ferðafélag Íslands

Norð-Austurland – hálendi og eyðibyggðir, 1987: Ferðafélag Íslands

Austfjarðafjöll, 1974: Ferðafélag Íslands

Vistkreppa eða náttúruvernd, 1974: Mál og menning