Borgþór Vestfjörð Kjærnested dies at 83

Borgþór Vestfjörð Kjærnested, a writer, translator and former journalist, died on October 29, aged 83, mbl.is reported. He was born in Sandgerði on September 3, 1943.

He grew up at Ásar, a gardening farm in Stafholtstungur, where his parents, horticulturalist Svavar F. Kjærnested and horticulturalist and manager Hjálmfríður Ólöf Þorsteinsdóttir, settled. The family moved to Reykjavík in 1958. Borgþór studied at Skógaskóli and Austurbæjarskóli, then attended a folk high school in Borgå, Finland, in 1961 and 1962.

He lived and worked in Finland and Sweden for several years, studied programme production and interpreting, and worked for Finnish radio. After returning to Iceland in 1975, he worked in journalism, programme production, interpreting, translation and tourism. He was Finnish radio’s correspondent in Iceland from 1975 to 1984, managing director of the Association of Nordic Societies in Helsinki from 1984 to 1988, and managing director of the Nordic Transport Workers’ Federation in Stockholm from 1990 to 1996. He later worked for the Reykjavík Seamen’s Association and served as managing director of the National Association of Senior Citizens.

Kjærnested also wrote and translated books. His works included Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The History of Finland, published in 2017. He took an active interest in social issues and the fight for rights, and was a member of the Freemasons.

He was first married to Vivian Ann-Mari Sandelin. Their children were Magnús Roland, who died in 2015, and Ann-Marie Erna Elísabet. His second wife was Sólveig Pétursdóttir; they had two children, Sólveig Fríða and Pétur Friðfinnur, and later divorced. Hrafnhildur Schram was his partner for many years. He had six grandchildren: Ásdís Sólveig, Þórdís Katla, Alex, Gústav Þór, Sigdís Anna and Eu Líf.