Ísafjörður, Westfjords Region — Mr. Karl Kristján Sigurðsson, who is believed to be the oldest living man in Iceland, celebrated his 106th birthday on May 14th.
Sigurðsson was born in Ísafjörður on 14 May 1918. He had 13 siblings. At six months old, he contracted the Spanish flu. According to him, when his family called a doctor, the doctor looked into his eyes and predicted he would have a long life, which turned out to be true.
When he was 1 year old, the family moved to Hnífsdalur, where he spent the majority of his life. Around 1942, he married Kristjana Hjartardóttir. His wife already had one son, and the couple went on to have five more children. He was a captain in Hnífsdal and remained at sea until he was around 50 years old. Afterward, he worked as a machine operator in the freezer in Hnífsdal until he was 78. His wife passed away in 2013, aged 95, after 71 years of marriage.
His father lived to be 99 years old, his brother Sigurður lived to be 102 years old, and his brother Salómon is currently 94 years old.
On 22 March 2022, following the passing of 104-year-old Snæbjörn Gíslason, he became the country’s oldest living man, at the age of 103.
Sigurðsson is currently the country’s second-oldest living person, after Mrs. Þórhildur (Thorhildur) Magnúsdóttir, who celebrated her 106th birthday last December.
The LongeviQuest team would like to extend our congratulations. We hope he enjoyed his day, and we wish him many more years of happiness.
