Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

Icelandic politician

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir[1] (pronounced jouːhanːa ˈsɪːɣʏrðartouʰtɪr), (born 4 October 1942) is a former Icelandic politician and the former Prime Minister of Iceland. She has been a politician for many years. She was 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. She has been re-elected eight times. She became Iceland's first female Prime Minister on 1 February 2009, the world's first openly gay head of government of the modern era.[2][3]

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir MP
Prime Minister of Iceland
In office
1 February 2009 – 23 May 2013
PresidentÓlafur Ragnar Grímsson
Preceded byGeir Haarde
Succeeded bySigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security
In office
24 May 2007 – 1 February 2009
Prime MinisterGeir Haarde
Preceded byMagnús Stefánsson (Social Affairs)
Siv Friðleifsdóttir (Health and Social Security)
Succeeded byÁsta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir
In office
8 July 1987 – 24 June 1994
Prime MinisterÞorsteinn Pálsson
Steingrímur Hermannsson
Davíð Oddsson
Preceded byAlexander Stefánsson
Succeeded byGuðmundur Árni Stefánsson
Personal details
Born (1942-10-04) 4 October 1942 (age 82)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Political partySocial Democratic Party (1978–1994)
National Movement (1994–2000)
Social Democratic Alliance (2000–present)
Spouse(s)Þorvaldur Steinar Jóhannesson (1970-2002?)
Jónína Leósdóttir (2002-present)
ChildrenTwo sons (b. 1972 and 1977)
One stepson (b. 1981)
ProfessionFlight attendant
Trade Unionist

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]

References

change
  1. This name is usually spelled in English-language press as Johanna Sigurdardottir.
  2. Moody, Jonas (2009-01-30). "Iceland Picks the World's First Openly Gay PM". Time. Archived from the original on 2010-05-19. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  3. "First gay PM for Iceland cabinet". BBC News. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  4. Peter Popham (29 January 2009), "World gets its first gay leader", The Independent, archived from the original on 11 October 2011, retrieved 31 August 2017
  5. Valur Gunnarsson (30 January 2009), "Profile: Johanna Sigurdardottir", The Guardian