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Steingrímur Hermannsson (pronounced [ˈsteinkrimur ˈhɛrmanˌsɔn]) (22 June 1928 – 1 February 2010)^[1] was Prime Minister of Iceland.

Early childhood[link]

Steingrímur's father was Hermann Jónasson, another former Prime Minister. Being the son a prominent official, Steingrímur enjoyed a relatively care-free upbringing in a country stricken by the Great Depression. As a young boy he had an exceptional proximity to Iceland's World War II politics, overhearing state affairs being discussed in his father's living room.

Education[link]

Not wanting to follow his father's footsteps into politics, Steingrímur went to the U.S. in 1948. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1951 and later studied at Caltech. After returning to his native country and experiencing troubles both in his private life and business career, he eventually entered politics in the 1960s. He was elected to the Althing (Icelandic Parliament) for the Progressive Party in 1971. He became party chairman in 1979.

Politics[link]

Steingrímur served as Prime Minister from 1983 to 1987 and again from 1988 to 1991. He also served for a time as Minister of Justice, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Agriculture (1978–79), Minister of Fisheries and Communications (1980–83) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1987–88). He was chairman of the Progressive Party from 1979 to 1994. After that he was manager of the Central Bank of Iceland until his retirement in 1998.

His legacy as Prime Minister is somewhat controversial, with many considering him the last representative of "the old system" in Icelandic politics, which was allegedly plagued by political favoritism and corruption^{[citation needed]}. Steingrímur's supporters however, state that he did a good job of coping in the difficult economic circumstances in the 1980s and early 1990s.

International affairs[link]

Internationally, his greatest moment as Prime Minister came in 1986, when he hosted the Reykjavík Summit of Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan. Although not considered a success at the time, the summit paved the way for the ending of the Cold War, and the Icelandic government's management of the event was widely commended. In 1991, during the January Events in Lithuania, Steingrímur expressed strong support for Vytautas Landsbergis, Chairman of Lithuanian Parliament. Shortly after, Iceland was the first country to recognize the independence of Lithuania from Soviet Union.^[2]

Steingrímur first kept a low profile in his retirement, rarely voicing his opinion of current affairs. He was however a founding member of Heimssýn, an organization opposed to Iceland's entry of the European Union, and became increasingly critical of the Progressive Party's policies. He gave public support to "The Iceland Movement", an ad hoc environmental movement which ran (unsuccessfully) in the 2007 Althing elections, appearing in campaign advertisements on TV. As a result of these activities, he mostly lost the informal status of the Progressive party's "Grand Old Man", that many had expected him to play.

In his last years Steingrímur was a well liked and respected elder statesman, and was considered as a potential candidate for the 1996 presidential elections. But he quickly declined that honour, stating his intention to retire at the age of 70. His memoirs, published in three volumes in 1998–2000, became bestsellers.

Family[link]

Steingrímur was twice married and had six children. His youngest son, Guðmundur Steingrímsson is currently active in Icelandic politics. He first ran for the Althing in the 2007 elections, for the Social Democratic Alliance. In early 2009, however, he switched sides and joined his grandfather's and father's Progressive Party.

References[link]

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Icelandic Wikipedia. (January 2009) Don't speak Icelandic? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Icelandic article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|is|Katrín Jakobsdóttir}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

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Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Minister of Education, Science and Culture
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 February 2009
Prime Minister	Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Preceded by	Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir
Personal details
Born	(1976-02-01) 1 February 1976 (age 36) Reykjavík, Iceland
Political party	Left-Green Movement
Spouse(s)	Gunnar Örn Sigvaldason
Children	Three sons (b. 2005, 2007, 2011)
Alma mater	University of Iceland

Katrín Jakobsdóttir (pronounced [ˈkʰaːtrin ˈjaːkʰɔpstouhtɪr]) (born 1 February 1976) is an Icelandic politician and a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the Reykjavík North constituency since 2007. She is vice-chairman of the Left-Green Movement and Iceland's Minister of Education, Science and Culture.^[1]

Katrín graduated from the University of Iceland in 1999 with a degree in Icelandic and French. She received her M.A. from the same university in 2004 for a dissertation on the work of popular Icelandic crime writer Arnaldur Indriðason.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Personal blog

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Helgi Hjörvar (born 9 June 1967) is an Icelandic politician.

External links[link]

• Non auto-biography of Helgi Hjörvar on the parliament website

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Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Prime Minister of Iceland
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 February 2009
President	Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Preceded by	Geir Haarde
Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security
In office 24 May 2007 – 1 February 2009
Prime Minister	Geir Haarde
Preceded by	Magnús Stefánsson (Social Affairs) Siv Friðleifsdóttir (Health and Social Security)
Succeeded by	Ásta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir
In office 8 July 1987 – 24 June 1994
Prime Minister	Þorsteinn Pálsson Steingrímur Hermannsson Davíð Oddsson
Preceded by	Alexander Stefánsson
Succeeded by	Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson
Personal details
Born	(1942-10-04) 4 October 1942 (age 69) Reykjavík, Iceland
Political party	Social Democratic Alliance (2000–present)
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic Party (1978–1994) Awakening of the Nation (1994–2000)
Spouse(s)	Þorvaldur Steinar Jóhannesson (1970–1987) Jónína Leósdóttir (2002–present)
Children	2 sons 1 stepson
Profession	Flight attendant Trade unionist

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir^[1] (pronounced [jo͡uːhanːa ˈsɪːɣʏrðarto͡uhtɪr]), (born 4 October 1942), is the Prime Minister of Iceland. A politician since 1978, she was previously Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security from 1987–1994 and 2007–2009. She has been a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for Reykjavík constituencies since 1978, winning re-election on eight successive occasions. She became Iceland's first female Prime Minister and the world's first openly lesbian head of government on 1 February 2009.^[2][3]

Jóhanna is a social democrat and Iceland's longest-serving member of Parliament. In the 1990s, when she lost a bid to head the party, she lifted her fist and declared "Minn tími mun koma!" ("My time will come!"), a phrase that became a popular Icelandic expression.^[4][5] In 2009, Forbes listed her among the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world.^[6]

Education and early career[link]

Jóhanna was born in Reykjavík and studied at the Commercial College of Iceland, a vocational high school operated by the Chamber of Commerce. After graduating with her commercial diploma in 1960, she worked as a flight attendant with Loftleiðir (a predecessor of Icelandair) and as an office worker. She was active in the trade union movement from early in her professional life, presiding over the Board of the Icelandic Cabin Crew Association in 1966 and 1969 and over the Board of Svölurnar, Association of Former Stewardesses in 1975. She was also a member of the Board of the Commercial Workers' Union from 1976 to 1983.^[7]

Political career[link]

Jóhanna was elected to the Althing in 1978 on the list of the Social Democratic Party for the Reykjavík constituency.^[8] She enjoyed early success in her parliamentary career, serving as deputy speaker of the Althing in 1979 and in 1983–84. She was elected vice-chairman of the Social Democratic Party in 1984, a post she held until 1993. She was also Minister of Social Affairs in four separate Cabinets from 1987 to 1994,^[7] when she left the Social Democratic Party after losing the leadership contest to form a new party Þjóðvaki (variously translated as "Awakening of the Nation" or the "National Movement"); the two parties remerged in 2000 to form the present Social Democratic Alliance. Her 1994 declaration Minn tími mun koma! ("My time will come!"), after she lost the contest for the leadership of the Social Democratic party, has become an iconic phrase in the Icelandic language.^[4][5]

From 1994 to 2003, she was an active member of the opposition in the Althing, serving on numerous parliamentary committees. After the 2003 elections, in which she stood in the Reykjavík South constituency (after the split of the old Reykjavík constituency), she was re-elected deputy speaker of the Althing. The 2007 elections, in which she stood in the Reykjavík North constituency, saw the return of the Social Democratic Alliance to government in coalition with the Independence Party, and Jóhanna was named Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security.^[8]

Prime Minister[link]

On 26 January 2009, Prime Minister Geir Haarde tendered the coalition government's resignation to the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.^[9][10] The move followed fourteen weeks of protests over the government's handling of the financial crisis, protests which had intensified from 20 January.

After talks with the leaders of the five parties represented in the Althing, the President asked the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement to form a new government and to prepare for elections in the spring.^[11]

Jóhanna was proposed as Prime Minister for the new government, among other things because of her popularity among the general public and her good relations with the Left-Green Movement. An opinion poll by Capacent Gallup in December 2008 found 73% approval of her actions as a minister, more than any other member of the Cabinet: she was also the only minister to have improved her approval ratings over 2008.^[12]

The new government needed the support of the Progressive Party in the Althing.^{[citation needed]} Negotiations continued up to the evening of 31 January, and the new Cabinet was appointed on 1 February. Independent polling showed that Jóhanna and Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, leader of the Left-Green Movement, the other party in the coalition government, enjoyed considerable support outside their own parties.^[13]

On 25 April 2009, a parliamentary election was held in Iceland,^[14] following strong pressure from the public as a result of the Icelandic financial crisis.^[15] The Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement, which formed the outgoing coalition government under Jóhanna, both made gains and now together have an overall majority of seats in the Althing (Iceland's parliament). The Progressive Party also made gains, and the new Citizens' Movement, formed after the January 2009 protests, gained four seats. The Independence Party, which had been in power for eighteen years until January 2009, lost a third of its support and nine seats in the Althing. On 10 May 2009, the new government was announced, with Jóhanna staying on as Prime Minister.^[16]

In 2010, after her government banned strip clubs, paying for nudity in restaurants, and other means of employers profiting from employees' nudity, Jóhanna said "The Nordic countries are leading the way on women's equality, recognizing women as equal citizens rather than commodities for sale."^[17]

Personal life[link]

Jóhanna married Þorvaldur Steinar Jóhannesson in 1970^[18] and the couple had two sons named Sigurður Egill and Davíð Steinar. (born 1972 and 1977).^{[citation needed]}

After their divorce in 1987, she joined in a civil union with Jónína Leósdóttir (born 1954), an author and playwright, in 2002.^[4][5][7] In 2010, when same-sex marriage was legalised in Iceland, Jóhanna and Jónína changed their civil union into a marriage, thus becoming one of the first same-sex married couples in Iceland.^[19]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

• Personal blog (Icelandic)
• Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir interviewed by Alyssa McDonald in The NewStatesman.