Name Ivor Thord-Gray | Books Gringo rebel | |
 | ||
Died August 18, 1964, Coral Gables, Florida, United States | ||
Ivor Thord-Gray (April 17, 1878 – August 18, 1964) was a Swedish-born adventurer, soldier, ethnologist, writer and linguist. He participated in 13 different wars across several continents.
Contents
Biography
He was born Thord Ivor Hallström in the Södermalm district in central Stockholm, Sweden as the second son of a primary school teacher, August Hallström, and his wife Hilda. His eldest brother was the artist Gunnar August Hallström (1875–1943). His youngest brother was the archaeologist Gustaf Hallström (1880–1962).
In 1893 he joined the Merchant Marine and sailed on three ships before going ashore in Cape Town, South Africa during December 1895. He joined the Cape Mounted Rifles in South Africa as a Private in 1897. Between 1897 and 1919, Thord-Gray participated in 13 different wars covering several continents.
He changed his name to Gray in 1899 and Thord-Gray in 1917. In 1923, he wrote a book about Mexican archeology Från Mexicos forntid : bland tempelruiner och gudabilder.
In 1925 Thord-Gray moved to the United States and established I.T. Gray & Co, an investment bank located at 522 Fifth Avenue in New York City. He became a citizen of the United States in 1934. He was married to Josephine Toerge-Schaefer (1925–1932) who had two children, Edward and Frances. He was subsequently married to Winnifred Ingersoll (1933–1960). In 1929, he established residence at Gray Court in Belle Haven in Greenwich, Connecticut. In August 1935 he was appointed Major-General and Chief-of-Staff to Governor David Sholtz of Florida.
In 1955, he wrote Tarahumara-English, English-Tarahumara dictionary and an introduction to Tarahumara grammar. (Coral Gables, Fla., University of Miami Press, 1955). He also wrote a book about his experiences in the Mexican Revolution, Gringo Rebel: Mexico 1913–1914 (Coral Gables, Fla. : University of Miami Press, 1961). In later years he had his winter home in Coral Gables, Florida.