Former bank director Sigurður Hafstein dies
Thursday 1st October 2026 on 10:01 in
Iceland
Former bank director Sigurður Hafstein died in the cardiac department of Landspítali hospital on September 24, Morgunblaðið reported.
Hafstein was born on October 11, 1940. He graduated from Reykjavík Junior College in 1960 and earned a law degree from the University of Iceland in 1967. He completed postgraduate studies in bankruptcy, inheritance and matrimonial law at Stockholm University in 1969.
He first worked as a lawyer and later became a partner at a Reykjavík law firm with Eyjólfur Konráð Jónsson and other lawyers. He qualified as a district court attorney in 1967 and as a Supreme Court attorney in 1974.
Hafstein took part in social and political activities from a young age. He served on the board of Heimdallur from 1961 to 1964 and was its managing director from 1961 to 1962. He was vice-chair of the University of Iceland Student Council and chair of Vaka, a student association, from 1962 to 1963. He also served on the boards of the Icelandic Bar Association and the Icelandic Lawyers Association.
He was on the Independence Party’s council from 1973 to 1987 and managed the party from 1972 to 1980, playing a key role in its organisational and membership work.
In 1980, Hafstein became managing director of the Association of Icelandic Savings Banks, the first person to work full-time for the banks collectively. He helped strengthen their cooperation and develop shared services. He became managing director of the Savings Banks’ Loan Institution when it began operating in 1987. The institution became Sparisjóðabanki Íslands in 1993, and Hafstein became its bank director. He also continued to lead the savings banks’ association and the Savings Banks’ Guarantee Fund. He left the bank director role in early 2002 and continued as a managing director until 2004.
Hafstein married teacher Andrea Elísabet Sigurðardóttir in 1972. They had three children, Ásgerður, Hannes and Ragnhildur. Andrea also had a son, Sigurður, from before their marriage. She died on June 1, 2025.