Helgi G. Thordersen

Helgi Guðmundsson Thordersen (8 April 1794 – 4 December 1867) was an Icelandic politician and prelate who served as Bishop of Iceland from 1846 till 1866.

The Right Reverend Helgi G. Thordersen
Bishop of Iceland
Church	Church of Iceland
Diocese	Iceland
Appointed	25 September 1845
In office	1846–1866
Predecessor	Steingrímur Jónsson
Successor	Pétur Pétursson
Orders
Ordination	6 April 1820
Consecration	5 July 1846[1] by Jacob Peter Mynster
Personal details
Born	(1794-04-08)8 April 1794 Reykjavík, Iceland
Died	4 December 1867(1867-12-04) (aged 73)
Nationality	Icelandic
Denomination	Lutheran
Parents	Guðmundur Þórðarson & Steinunn Helgadóttir
Spouse	Ragneidur Stephensen

Biography

Thordersen graduated from the Latin school at Bessastaðir in 1813. He moved to Copenhagen in 1814 and graduated in theology in 1819. That same year, he returned to Iceland and taught children in Reykjavík the following winter. In 1820, he was ordained a priest in Hallgrímskirkja (Hvalfjörður). In 1836, he became a cathedral priest in Reykjavík and was bishop of Iceland from 1846 to 1866 as successor to Steingrímur Jónsson. He had no great importance in political life, but had a certain influence on the church legislative work during the first meetings, as well as in the relocation of the Latin school from Bessastaðir to Reykjavík and the establishment of the parsonage.^[2]