Björk
Björk in 2005, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Place of Birth: Reykjavik, Iceland
Date of Birth: November 21, 1965
Ethnicity: Icelandic
Björk is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, actress, and advocate for environmental causes. She has sold more than 22 million records worldwide. Björk has a distinct three-octave vocal range, with a musical output incorporating electronic, pop, experimental, trip hop, classical, and avant-garde styles. She is known for the songs “Play Dead,” “Big Time Sensuality,” “Violently Happy,” “Army of Me,” “It’s Oh So Quiet,” “Hyperballad,” and “I’ve Seen It All,” and starred in the film Dancer in the Dark. Her album “Biophilia” was an interactive app album with an education program. She was the lead singer of alternative rock band the Sugarcubes.
Björk is the daughter of father Guðmundur Gunnarsson, an electrician and union leader, and mother Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, a nature activist, homeopath, and nature conservationist. She has a son with her former husband Þór Eldon; and a daughter with her former partner, American artist Matthew Barney.
Aside from Icelandic, she has said that she has distant Irish ancestry. It is not clear if this Irish ancestry has been verified/documented.
Some have speculated that Björk could be of indigenous Inuit or Sami ethnicity, but there is no evidence of this being the case. Inuit or Sami people are not common in Iceland.
Björk’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced back to her seventh great-grandfather, Jón “Eldri” Þorgilsson.
Björk’s paternal grandfather is Gunnar Guðmundsson (the son of Guðmundur Jóhannesson and Kristín Gunnarsdóttir). Björk’s great-grandfather Guðmundur was the son of Jóhannes Guðmundsson and Ingibjörg Eysteinsdóttir. Kristín was the daughter of Gunnar Kristófersson and Kristín Guðmundsdóttir.
Björk’s paternal grandmother was Hallfríður Guðmundsdóttir (the daughter of Guðmundur “Briskó” Jónsson and Rósa Bachmann Jónsdóttir). Björk’s great-grandfather Guðmundur was the son of Jón Jónsson and Vilborg Guðlaugsdóttir. Rósa was the daughter of Jón Bachmann Jósefsson and Hallfríður Einarsdóttir.
Björk’s maternal grandfather was Guðjón Þórir Tómasson (the son of Tómas Sigurðsson and Sigrún Kristinsdóttir). Guðjón was born in Dalvik, Northeast, Iceland. Björk’s mother was raised and adopted by her own stepfather, Haukur/Hauk Freygarð Guðjónsson. Haukur was the son of Guðjón Guðjónsson and Sveinbjörg Jónsdóttir.
Björk’s maternal grandmother was named Guðrún Helgadóttir/Ásmundsdóttir (born Helgudóttir, the daughter of Helga Guðbjörg Helgadóttir). Guðrún was adopted by Ásmundur Gestsson and Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir. Helga was the daughter of Helgi Andrésson and Helga Björnsdóttir.
Björk’s matrilineal ancestry can be traced back to her fifth great-grandmother, Olufa Nicolausdóttir.
Sources: Genealogies of Bjork – http://gw.geneanet.org
https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Björk (focusing on her father’s side) – http://mediasvc.ancestry.com
Obituary of Björk’s mother – https://www.dv.is
Obituary of Björk’s maternal granduncle, Andrés Ásmundsson – http://www.mbl.is
Epicanthic folds occasionally turn up in any ethnicity. I went to school with a girl who was half Greek, half Polish, but looked so convincingly Asian that she and a Chinese-American classmate jokingly called each other brother and sister. Another acquaintance was 100% Irish but had complete epicanthic folds.
I’m curious about this topic … why is it asians commonly have the epicanthic folds so known to the world as “asian looking” but it turns up in any ethnicitiy? does it have anything to do with how ethnic groups evolved in certain areas of the world?
Sven, Bjork could not pass for Japanese or Korean in any universe.
japanese friend said that bjork looks japanese… i don’t think japanese people or koreans are all very distinctive. some of them look quite caucasian. i don’t think bjork is asian, though. she’s got caucasian features. it’s just her black hair that gives the illusion.
I don’t care what your Japanese friend said. Even the most Caucasian looking Japanese people — like Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune — are still unmistakably East Asian. They wouldn’t pass for a native anywhere in Europe, and they would never be mistaken as a person of European descent in the new world, just like Bjork would never be mistaken for a native Korean or Japanese in Seoul or Tokyo, which I guarantee you of.
And yes, some Japanese and Koreans do look almost caucasian. But most of them DON’T. Just like most white people don’t look pseudo-Asian. So shut up.
Björk has grey-ish eyes, however. How did that come about?
They seem to look green, blue, brown, and black at times.
http://gd.se/image_processor/1.2290677.1283235555!/image/981757073.jpg_gen/derivatives/wide/981757073.jpg?maxWidth=468
And she really does have an internal epicanthus… http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o21/Kadu_album/eyefoldsil5.jpg
Her eyes are hazel so the color changes a lot and looks different in certain lighting, etc. you idiot
Look man no need to be so upset
It’s just Bjork dude.
definate admixed ancestry from neighbouring greenland ,or various siberian et al admixture often show in scandinavians/finns [ on the autosomes not sex chromosomes like the archaeologist mentioned swhich are irelevant]
http://www.datombar.com/legacyofdave/seasonal/rocktober/bjork.jpeg
yeah epiganthic folds are not exclusive to asians
she could be white
bjork as a kid
http://iwantigot.geekigirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/20070504_bjork10yearold.jpg
apparently she was constantly called china girl as a child.