Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson

Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson (born 23 October 1983), known professionally as Orly Orlyson, is an Icelandic entrepreneur, hotelier, founder of The Exploration Museum and President of the Norðurþing town council. [1][2][3][4][5]

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Örlygur Hnefill.
Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson
Örlygur Hnefill wearing a replica of the Apollo spacesuit at The Exploration Museum.
Born (1983-10-23) October 23, 1983
Húsavík, Iceland
NationalityIcelandic
Other namesOrly Orlyson
OccupationMuseum director
Hotel manager
Spouse(s)Jóhanna Ásdís Baldursdóttir
ChildrenAníta, Ylva
Parent(s)

In 2018, Örlygur was selected by the United States Department of State and the German Marshall Fund to represent Iceland in the YTILI program.[6] That same year, he was awarded by JCI as one of Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Iceland for his various entrepreneurial projects, most notably for founding The Exploration Museum, and for co-founding the Leif Erikson Awards.[7][8]

Political career

From 2007 to 2009, Örlygur served as the parliamentary assistant to Einar Már Sigurðarson, member of Parliament for Northeast Constituency.[9] From 2011 to 2016 he served as chairman of the Húsavík Chamber of Commerce and Tourism.

In May 2014, Örlygur was elected to the town council of Norðurþing municipality in northern Iceland. He served as chair of the Norðurþing Harbor Committee from 2015 to 2016 and as chairman of the regional Recycling and Waste Management Cooperative from 2014 to 2016. He has served as President of the town council since 2017.[10]

Work with astronauts

In 2015, Örlygur led an expedition with Apollo astronauts Walter Cunningham, Rusty Schweikart and Harrison Schmitt, as well as the family of Neil Armstrong, to the new lava of Holuhraun, created by fissure eruptions in 2014 and 2015.[11] He has led similar expeditions with Apollo astronauts Bill Anders and Charlie Duke to the areas near Askja, a caldera situated in a remote part of the central highlands of Iceland where the astronauts were trained in geology in 1965 and 1967, before the Lunar missions. His work with the Apollo astronauts has been featured by the BBC, National Geographic and The Guardian. [12][13][14]

In 2015, he co-designed a monument with his father, commemorating the part of Iceland in the Apollo program. The monument contains the names of 32 Apollo astronauts that were sent to Iceland for training, and has two steel globes on top of two basalt columns, representing the Earth and the Moon. The monument was unveiled on July 15, 2015, by the grandchildren of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong.[15]

During a press conference at The Exploration Museum in November 2015, Örlygur announced the museum's plan to build a full size replica of the Apollo Lunar Module to unveil in 2019, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight of a Lunar Module on Apollo 9 and the first landing of a Lunar Module on the moon on Apollo 11.[16]

Örlygur wrote and co-directed the 2019 documentary Cosmic Birth with Icelandic filmmaker and musician Rafnar Orri. For the film, they interviewed 6 Apollo astronauts about their personal experience of going to the moon, and Neil Armstrong's son Mark Armstrong about his father's Apollo 11 mission.[17][18]

Family

Örlygur is the son of Icelandic politician Valgerður Gunnarsdóttir, and the grandson of author and folklorist Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson.[19]

See also

References
  1. "Uncovering the history of astronauts in Iceland". BBC World Service. United Kingdom. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  2. "Neues Museum zur Erforschung der Geschichte (in German)". Iceland Review. Iceland. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  3. "New hotels being built in North Iceland (in Icelandic)". RÚV. Iceland. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  4. Pearlman, Robert. "Buzz Aldrin". Collect Space. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  5. "We hosted Orly Orlygsson". Women's Investor Network. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  6. "Meet the 2018 YTILI Fellows". German Marshall Fund. gmfus.org. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  7. Ólafsdóttir, Kristín (19 May 2018). "Tíu hljóta viðurkenningu sem framúrskarandi ungir Íslendingar". 365 Media. Vísir. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  8. "2018 JCI TOYP Iceland Honorees". JCI Iceland. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  9. "Aðstoðarmenn þingmanna (in Icelandic)". Althingi, the Parliament of Iceland. Iceland. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  10. "Örlygur Hnefill elected president of Town Council". Húsavík Observer. Iceland. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  11. "Apollo astronauts revisit training area in Iceland and explore a new lava flow". The Exploration Museum. Iceland. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  12. "Outlook, 19 September 2017". BBC World Service. United Kingdom. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  13. "It's the closest thing to the moon". The Guardian. United Kingdom. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  14. Drake, Nadia. "Why Space Fans Flock to This Eerie Landscape". National Geographic. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  15. "Grandchildren of Neil Armstrong unveil a monument (Icelandic)". Morgunblaðið. Iceland. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  16. "A replica of the Apollo 11 lunar module to be built in the town of Húsavík, North Iceland". Iceland Magazine. Iceland. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  17. Egilsson, Egill Pall (24 May 2019). "Af jörðu ertu kominn". Víkurblaðið. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  18. Finley, Sam (24 May 2019). "Film 'Cosmic Birth' to show a different side of Men who walked on Moon". Húsavík Observer. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  19. "Valgerður Gunnarsdóttir Parliamentary Profile". The Parliament of Iceland. Iceland. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
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