Margrét Þóra Hallgrímsson, also referred as Thora Hallgrimsdottir, is the wife of the businessman Björgólfur Guðmundsson and like him was a prominent figure in the cultural and business life of Iceland from around 2002 to 2008. She is also the former wife of American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell.
Þóra was born in Reykjavík, the eldest daughter of Hallgrímur Fr. Hallgrímsson, chairman of Shell in Iceland and consul in Canada, and his wife Margrét Þorbjörg Thors Hallgrímsson, daughter of the businessman Thor Philip Axel Jensen. Although ethnically Icelandic, Þóra's father Hallgrímur was born in Canada. His surname Hallgrímsson is in fact his father's patronym, which his father had taken as a surname when moving to Canada. In turn, Þóra also inherited the surname, giving rise to the unusual situation of a female Icelander with a last name ending in -son. At 14, Þóra was sent to boarding school in the UK.
Marriages
While studying in England, Þóra received a marriage proposal from David Tomlinson, whereupon her father had her return to Iceland, via a spell studying in the USA. Once in Iceland, Þóra met Haukur Clausen, an Olympic athlete and later dentist, and married him on 6 January 1951. Together they had Örn Friðrik, but they separated just a year later due to Clausen having an affair with Þóra's best friend. On 3 October 1953 Þóra married George Lincoln Rockwell, an officer in the American Navy and later founder of the American Nazi Party, moving with him to America. With him she had three further children: Hallgrímur, Margrét, and Evelyn Bentína. In Roger Boyes's account, Accounts of Þóra's divorce from Rockwell, which include Rockwell's own autobiography, and her return to Iceland vary. Her father Hallgrímur travelled to the United States in 1958 to bring his daughter home; according to Boyes, the family asked Björgólfur Guðmundsson to help convince Þóra to return to Iceland, but according to her son Björgólfur Thor, Þóra met Björgólfur Guðmundsson back in Iceland. Either way, Þóra moved back with her four children, divorced Rockwell, and in 1963 married Björgólfur. She had one son by Björgólfur, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, but Björgólfur Guðmundsson also adopted Þóra's children by Rockwell. Þóra's grandson, by her daughter Evelyn Bentína Björgólfsdóttir, is the footballer Björgólfur Hideaki Takefusa.
Controversy over biography
In 2005, Guðmundur Magnússon published the bookThorsararnir, on the history of the descendants of Thor Jensen. In the first version of the book was a chapter on Þóra's marriage with Rockwell. The book was published by the press Edda, but Björgólfur, who owned the publisher, had the author change the text. Moreover, he tried to buy the newspaper Dagblaðið-Vísir, which had discussed the matter, in order to close it down.
