Skipper Thuridur

Iceland’s great woman fishing captain, Thuridur Einarsdóttir, was born in 1777 on the south coast, an area famed both for its cod stocks and its razor-sharp reefs. She joined her father’s fishing crew when she was eleven, and that was the beginning of a successful fifty-year career.

Because of her prowess rowing and steering the heavy wooden open boats, as well as her caution and good humor, she was eventually made a skipper, and remained one until she retired from fishing at sixty-three. She often had female crew.

While Iceland has a history of women fishers, Thuridur stands out for her luck and leadership, and for the fact that she was given a special legal permit to wear men’s clothing when she was ashore as well as at sea. She’s still remembered today, and a replica of her cabin can be visited in Stokkeseyri, where she was born.