Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson was born at Brú in Biskupstungur, in Árnessýsla, the youngest of six children. The poet Tómas Guðmundsson was a cousin. He graduated in 1902 from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, then earned a Candid. Polit. degree in economics from the University of Copenhagen in 1906, the fourth Icelander to major in the field. He started work at the Icelandic Department of Industry and Transportation, transferred in 1909 to the Department of Finance, and then on January 1, 1914 became director of the newly created Bureau of Statistics, where he continued working until his retirement in 1950. He also taught economics part-time at the Commercial College of Iceland from 1916 to 1929 and was an examiner in the subject at the University of Iceland beginning in 1941. He sat on several boards and was a founder and first president of the Icelandic Association of Economists. Þorsteinn was married to Guðrún Geirsdóttir, daughter of Geir T. Zoëga, the rector of Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík; she died in 1955. They had five children. He died in Reykjavík.
Esperanto
Þorsteinn learned Esperanto in 1899, and soon after started to publish articles making the case for Esperanto. He wrote the first Icelandic textbook of Esperanto, a translation of the book by Théophile Cart; it appeared in 1909 and was republished in 1927. In 1927 he co-founded the first Icelandic Esperanto Society in Reykjavík, and served as its president until 1931, when the first Icelandic Esperanto Association, Samband íslenzkra esperantista, was founded and he became its president. He became acquainted with L. L. Zamenhof during the 3rd World Esperanto Congress in 1907, corresponded with him, and in 1977 was a guest at the 62nd World Esperanto Congress, held in Reykjavík. He was a member of the Esperantist Linguistic Committee and dean of the
Honors
He was awarded an honorary doctorate in economics by the University of Iceland on its 35th anniversary in 1946, became a fellow of the in 1919 and was an honorary fellow of the Icelandic Association of Economists, the Icelandic Literary Society, and the revived Icelandic Esperanto Association.
Publications
In his position as director of the Bureau of Statistics, Þorsteinn edited and wrote or co-wrote many publications, including a monthly bulletin, a multi-volume list of the names in the 1703 census, and the handbook of Iceland published four times between 1926 and 1946 under the auspices of Landsbanki. Other publications include:
Kenslubók í Esperantó: ásamt orðasafni með íslenskum þýðingum. Trans. of Cart, Théophile. L'Esperanto en dix leçons. Reykjavík: Bókaverslun Guðm. Gamalíelssonar, 1909..
Island under og efter verdenskrigen: en økonomisk oversigt. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Division of Economics and History. Verdenskrigens økonomiske og sociale historie, Skandinavisk serie: Verdenskrigens økonomiske og sociale historie, Skandinavisk serie 4. Copenhagen: Gad, 1928.
