Ottawa: Guðríður and Snorri

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GUÐRÍÐUR ÞORBJARNARDÓTTIR & SNORRI ÞORFINNSSON

Place	Artist	Date	Type
Ottawa (Canada)	Ásmundur Sveinsson	2000	Statue

Snorri Þorfinnsson, the first child of European descent born in America, detail of statue in Ottawa

Notes

"The First European Woman to give Birth on North American Soil."
Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, wife of Þorfinnur Karlsefni, gave birth to a son in about 1004, during their stay in Vinland. This son, Snorri Þorfinnsson is the first child of European descent to be born in North America. See the story on the Glaumbær page (there is also an identical same statue, a third copy is in Laugarbrekka). Their statue is unveiled in Ottawa on 6 April 2000 and on exhibit in the lobby of the National Archives of Canada.

Source(s):

Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto, September 2000 Newsletter
Address by the Prime Minister of Iceland, Mr. Davíð Oddsson, at the unveiling of a statue of Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir April 2000 - Ottawa, Canada, on-line

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