100 Notable alumni of
University of Iceland
Updated:
The University of Iceland is 927th in the world, 327th in Europe, and 1st in Iceland by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Iceland sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Magnús Scheving
- Occupations
- film produceractorathletescreenwriterdirector
- Biography
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Magnús Örn Eyjólfsson Scheving is an Icelandic writer, television producer, actor, entrepreneur, and former athlete. He is the creator, director, and star of the children's television show LazyTown, in which he portrayed the character Sportacus.
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Katrín Jakobsdóttir
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- In 1999 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Icelandic and French
- In 2004 graduated with Master of Arts in Icelandic literature
- Occupations
- politicianenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Katrín Jakobsdóttir is an Icelandic politician who served as the prime minister of Iceland from December 2017 to April 2024 and was a member of the Althing for the Reykjavík North constituency from 2007 to 2024.
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Guðni Jóhannesson
- Occupations
- university teachertranslatorhistorianpolitician
- Biography
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Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson is an Icelandic historian and politician who served as the sixth president of Iceland from 2016 to 2024.
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Arnaldur Indriðason
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- Studied study of history
- Occupations
- screenwriterwriterfilm criticjournalist
- Biography
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Arnaldur Indriðason is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction; his most popular series features the protagonist Detective Erlendur.
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Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is an Icelandic politician who served as the fourth president of Iceland from 1980 to 1996, the first woman to hold the position and the first in the world to be democratically elected president of a country. Having served for 16 years, she was also the longest-serving elected female head of state in history. Vigdís is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and a member of the Club of Madrid.
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Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland, serving from 1996 to 2016. He was previously a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the People's Alliance and served as Minister of Finance from 1988 to 1991.
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Heimir Hallgrímsson
- Occupations
- association football managerassociation football playerdentist
- Biography
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Heimir Hallgrímsson is an Icelandic professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of the Republic of Ireland men's national team.
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Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
- Occupations
- politicianjournalisteconomist
- Biography
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Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is an Icelandic politician who was the prime minister of Iceland from May 2013 until April 2016. He was also chairman of the Progressive Party from 2009 to October 2016. He was elected to the Althing (Iceland's parliament) as the 8th member for the Reykjavík North Constituency on 25 April 2009. Taking office at 38, he was the third youngest Icelander to become prime minister.
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Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
- Occupations
- civil engineerwriterchildren's writernovelist
- Biography
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Vilborg Yrsa Sigurðardóttir is an Icelandic writer of both crime novels and children's fiction. She has been writing since 1998. Her début crime novel was translated into English by Bernard Scudder. The central character in her crime novels so far is Thóra Gudmundsdóttir (Þóra Guðmundsdóttir), a lawyer. Yrsa has also written for children, and won the 2003 Icelandic Children's Book Prize with Biobörn.
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Bjarni Benediktsson
- Occupations
- politicianstatespersonlawyer
- Biography
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Bjarni Benediktsson, known colloquially as Bjarni Ben, is an Icelandic former politician who served as the prime minister of Iceland from January to November 2017 and again from April to December 2024. He has been the leader of the Icelandic Independence Party since 2009, and served as the minister of finance and economic affairs from 2013 to 2017, a post he later retained under Katrín Jakobsdóttir and held until his resignation in October 2023. After serving briefly as the minister for foreign affairs from 2023 to 2024, Bjarni became prime minister again on 9 April 2024.
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Jón Kalman Stefánsson
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
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Jón Kalman Stefánsson is an Icelandic author.
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Gísli Örn Garðarsson
- Occupations
- screenwriterwriterdramaturgetheatrical directorfilm producer
- Biography
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Gísli Örn Garðarsson is an Icelandic actor and director. He is one of the founders of Vesturport, a theatre and film company based in Reykjavík, and is also sometimes a scriptwriter and producer. Before focusing on acting, he competed internationally as a gymnast.
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Jónína Leósdóttir
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistplaywrightwriterchildren's writer
- Biography
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Jónína Leósdóttir is an Icelandic novelist, playwright, former journalist and spouse of former Prime Minister of Iceland Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (2009-2013).
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Davíð Oddsson
- Occupations
- politicianwriterbankerpoetjournalist
- Biography
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Davíð Oddsson is an Icelandic politician, and the longest-serving prime minister of Iceland, in office from 1991 to 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he served as foreign minister and as the chairman for the Independence Party from 1991 to 2005. Previously, he was Mayor of Reykjavík from 1982 to 1991, and he chaired the board of governors of the Central Bank of Iceland from 2005 to 2009. The collapse of Iceland's banking system led to vocal demands for his resignation, both from members of the Icelandic public and from the new Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, which resulted in his being replaced as head of the Central Bank in March 2009. In September 2009 he was hired as the editor of Morgunblaðið, one of Iceland's largest newspapers, a decision that caused nationwide controversy and was followed by resignations and widespread terminated subscriptions. He contested the election for President of Iceland on 25 June 2016 but lost to Guðni Jóhannesson, coming in fourth place with 13.7% of the popular vote.
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Kristján Eldjárn
- Occupations
- politiciancuratoranthropologistarchaeologist
- Biography
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Kristján Eldjárn was the third president of Iceland, serving from 1968 to 1980.
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Steingrímur J. Sigfússon
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Steingrímur Jóhann Sigfússon is an Icelandic politician. He has been a member of the Althing (Icelandic parliament) since 1983 and was the founding chairman of the Left-Green Movement (Vinstri hreyfingin – grænt framboð) from 1999 until 2013. He was the Minister for Agriculture and Communications from 1988 to 1991. He was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, he took on the roles of Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture and Minister of Economic Affairs. He was first elected as a member of the People's Alliance and helped found the Left-Green Movement after the merger of the People's Alliance into the more moderate Social Democratic Alliance.
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Kári Stefánsson
- Occupations
- neurologist
- Biography
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Kári Stefánsson is an Icelandic neurologist and founder and CEO of Reykjavík-based biopharmaceutical company deCODE genetics. In Iceland he has pioneered the use of population-scale genetics to understand variation in the sequence of the human genome. His work has focused on how genomic diversity is generated and on the discovery of sequence variants impacting susceptibility to common diseases. This population approach has served as a model for national genome projects around the world and contributed to the realization of several aspects of precision medicine.
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Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
- Years
- 1894-1972 (aged 78)
- Occupations
- politicianbanker
- Biography
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Ásgeir Ásgeirsson was the second president of Iceland; he served from 1952 to 1968. He was a Freemason and served as grand master of the Icelandic Order of Freemasons. He also served as the prime minister of Iceland from 3 June 1932 to 28 July 1934 for the Progressive Party. Ásgeir is the only person in Iceland to date to serve both as president and prime minister.
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Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir is an Icelandic politician who is a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the Southwest Constituency since 2016 and she has also worked as a media representative of the Ministry of Finance from 2010 to 2014.
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Dagur B. Eggertsson
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- Biography
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Dagur Bergþóruson Eggertsson is an Icelandic politician who was the Mayor of Reykjavík from 2007 to 2008 and again from 2014 to 2024. He was the vice-chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance from 2009 until 2013. He was first elected to the city council of Reykjavík in a 2002 election and became the mayor on 16 October 2007. Dagur is formally educated as a physician but also has a master's degree in Human Rights and International Law from the University of Lund in Sweden.
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Andri Snær Magnason
- Occupations
- children's writerpoetfilm directorwriterenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Andri Snær Magnason is an Icelandic writer. He has written novels, poetry, plays, short stories, and essays. Andri is also a director and producer of three documentary films that have premiered in IDFA and CPH:DOX. His work has been published or performed in more than 40 countries.
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Bjarni Benediktsson
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Bjarni Benediktsson was an Icelandic politician of the Independence Party who served as prime minister of Iceland from 1963 to 1970. His father, Benedikt Sveinsson (1877–1954), was a leader in the independence movement in Iceland and a member of the Althingi from 1908 to 1931.
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Hermann Jónasson
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Hermann Jónasson was an Icelandic politician of the Progressive Party who served as prime minister of Iceland from 1934 to 1942 and again from 1956 to 1958.
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Robert R. Spano
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
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Róbert Ragnar Spanó is an Icelandic-Italian jurist, judge, and former president of the European Court of Human Rights. He has been a partner at the multinational law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher since the end of this tenure as president of the court in October 2022. He started his tenure as president of the court on 18 May 2020, succeeding Judge Sicilianos from Greece. Before beginning his service on the court on 1 November 2013, he served provisionally as parliamentary ombudsman of Iceland and dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Iceland. Spano's mandate as a judge and president of the court ended on 31 October 2022 when he was succeeded by Judge Siofra O'Leary.
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Richard Simcott
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- Studied in 2013-2013
- Occupations
- lecturerlinguist
- Biography
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Richard Simcott is a British polyglot who lives in Skopje, North Macedonia. Described by HarperCollins as "One of the most multilingual people from the United Kingdom", he speaks at least 30 languages.
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Halldór Ásgrímsson
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Halldór Ásgrímsson was an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 15 September 2004 to 15 June 2006 and was the leader of the Progressive Party from 1994 to 2006.
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Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir
- Occupations
- priestpastor
- Biography
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Agnes Margrétardóttir Sigurðardóttir is an Icelandic prelate who is the current Bishop of Iceland. She is the first woman to be elected a Bishop of the Church of Iceland, which happened in 2012; she took office as such in the same year.
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Ólöf Nordal
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Ólöf Nordal was an Icelandic politician who was the Minister of the Interior of Iceland from 4 December 2014 to 11 January 2017. She died on 8 February 2017. She was a member of the Independence Party.
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Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir is an Icelandic politician, who has been chairwoman of Viðreisn since 2017.
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Einar Már Guðmundsson
- Occupations
- poetscreenwriternovelistshort story writerwriter
- Biography
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Einar Már Guðmundsson is an Icelandic author of novels, short stories, and poetry. His books have been translated into several languages.
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Smári McCarthy
- Occupations
- writerpolitician
- Biography
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Smári McCarthy is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy.
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Guðbergur Bergsson
- Occupations
- translatorlinguistwriter
- Biography
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Guðbergur Bergsson was an Icelandic writer born in Grindavík. He attended the University of Iceland for his Teaching degree and then studied literature at the University of Barcelona. He was one of the leading translators of Spanish works in Iceland. In Barcelona, he met and engaged with the publisher and writer Jaime Salinas Bonmatí.
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Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir
- Occupations
- author
- Biography
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Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir, is an Icelandic writer.
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Þórunn Egilsdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Þórunn Egilsdóttir was an Icelandic politician who was a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the Northeast Constituency from 2013 until her death, and she also served as chairman of the parliamentary group of the Progressive Party since 2016.
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Þórarinn Eldjárn
- Occupations
- translatorpoetwriter
- Biography
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Þórarinn Eldjárn is an Icelandic writer, particularly well known in Iceland for his humorous poetry books for children.
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Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir is an Icelandic politician from the Social Democratic Alliance who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2007–2009) and leader of the Alliance (2005–2009). She served as representative of UN Women in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2014 and later in Turkey as designated Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.
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Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson is an Icelandic politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate from 2021 to 2024 and previously minister of foreign affairs from 2017 to 2021.
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Inga Sæland
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Inga Sæland is an Icelandic politician. She is the founder and current leader of the People's Party, and has served as a member of the Althing since her election in 2017. Inga has served as the Minister of Social Affairs and Housing in the cabinet of Kristrún Frostadóttir since 2024.
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Einar Kárason
- Occupations
- screenwriterwriterprose writerpoet
- Biography
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Einar Kárason is an Icelandic writer. He has been a full-time writer since 1978. He started his career with poetry in literary magazines from 1978 to 1980. In 1981 he published his first novel. He is best known for his novel Þar sem djöflaeyjan rís. which was translated into English as Devil's Island. The book was also made into the film Devil's Island. He has been on the board or acted as chairman for several Icelandic writing associations.
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Svandís Svavarsdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Svandís Svavarsdóttir is an Icelandic politician who has been member of the Althing since 2009. In October 2024, she was elected party leader of the Left-Green Movement. She served as Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources in the government of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. In the First cabinet of Katrín Jakobsdóttir she served as Minister of Health. She was also the leader of the Left-Green Movement's parliamentary group. She served as the Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture in the Second cabinet of Katrín Jakobsdóttir before Bjarni Benediktsson became Prime Minister, and she became Minister of Infrastructure.
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Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistlawyer
- Biography
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Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir is an Icelandic lawyer and politician who has been a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the Reykjavík South constituency since 2016. She also served as the Secretary of the Independence Party from 2015 to 2019. In September 2019, she was named the Minister of Justice. In November 2021, she was named the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation and served until 21 December 2024.
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Þorsteinn Pálsson
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistdiplomat
- Biography
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Þorsteinn Pálsson served as prime minister of Iceland for the Independence Party from 8 July 1987 to 28 September 1988. Þorsteinn led the Independence Party from 1983 to 1991, when he lost an inner partial election to then vice-chairman of the party and mayor of Reykjavík, Davíð Oddsson. His coalition was dissolved in September 1988 by Progressive Party leader, Steingrímur Hermannsson and Social Democratic Party leader, Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson because of different views on price stagnation.
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Jón Magnússon
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jón Magnússon was an Icelandic politician, and was prime minister of Iceland on two occasions. He served his first term, as a member of the Home Rule Party (Heimastjórnarflokkurinn), from 4 January 1917 to 7 March 1922. He served his second term, as a member of the Conservative Party (Íhaldsflokkurinn, a forerunner of the Independence Party), from 22 March 1924 to 23 June 1926. He served as speaker of the Althing from 1913 to 1914.
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Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction. He has a B.Sc. degree in civil engineering and, in addition to having a successful career as a writer, he continues to work full-time at the Public Roads Administration in Iceland.
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Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir is an Icelandic writer. She studied philosophy at the University of Iceland.
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Aslaug Magnusdottir
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Áslaug Magnúsdóttir is an Icelandic businesswoman and entrepreneur. Áslaug is the founder of Katla. She is the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Moda Operandi and a co-founder of TSM Capital. She has been dubbed "fashion's fairy godmother" by Vogue and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company.
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Árni Páll Árnason
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Árni Páll Árnason is Vice-President and a member of the College of the EFTA Surveillance Authority, responsible for Competition, Energy, Environment, Transport, Food Safety, Free movement of goods, Public undertakings and Monopolies and Public procurement. He took up his duties on 1 January 2022.
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Gerður Kristný
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- In 1992 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writerpoet
- Biography
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Gerður Kristný is an Icelandic writer who is best known for her poetry and books for children.
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Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson is an Icelandic politician for the Centre Party.
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Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson
- Occupations
- philosopher
- Biography
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Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Iceland and a frequent commentator on current affairs in the Icelandic media. He is best known as a staunch spokesman for free market policies, and for neoliberalism or classical liberalism, as well as for his frequent climate change denial.
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Össur Skarphéðinsson
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherdiplomat
- Biography
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Össur Skarphéðinsson is an Icelandic politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from February 2009 to May 2013.
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Sigurður Helgason
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- Studied in 1945-1946
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Sigurdur Helgason was an Icelandic mathematician whose research has been devoted to the geometry and analysis on symmetric spaces. In particular, he used new integral geometric methods to establish fundamental existence theorems for differential equations on symmetric spaces as well as some new results on the representations of their isometry groups. He also introduced a Fourier transform on these spaces and proved the principal theorems for this transform, the inversion formula, the Plancherel theorem and the analog of the Paley–Wiener theorem.
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Kristján Þór Júlíusson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Kristján Þór Júlíusson is an Icelandic politician, a member of Alþingi and former Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture. He completed degrees in Icelandic, literature and teaching at the University of Iceland but most of his education has been concerned with seamanship. He is a certified steersman and captain and worked in that field for several years. He is married to Guðbjörg Ringsted and they have four children; María, Júlíus, Gunnar and Þorsteinn.
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Tryggvi Þórhallsson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Tryggvi Þórhallsson was prime minister of Iceland from 28 August 1927 to 3 June 1932. He served as speaker of the Althing in 1933. He was a member of the Progressive Party. He was the Minister of Finance of Iceland from 1928 to 1929 and in 1931.
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Björn Bjarnason
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Björn Bjarnason is an Icelandic politician. His father was Bjarni Benediktsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs and Mayor of Reykjavík.
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Thóra Arnórsdóttir
- Occupations
- politicianjournalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Thóra Arnórsdóttir, is an Icelandic documentary film maker, media personality who contested the presidential election in June 2012.
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Guðmundur Steingrímsson
- Occupations
- musicianjournalistpolitician
- Biography
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Guðmundur Steingrímsson is an Icelandic politician. He is the son and grandson of former Icelandic Prime Ministers Steingrímur Hermannsson and Hermann Jónasson, respectively.
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Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir was the Speaker of the Althing from the 24th of January 2017 until she failed to be re-elected in the 2017 Icelandic parliamentary election. She has also served as the chair of the Parliament's Judicial Affairs and Education Committee.
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Ármann Jakobsson
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Ármann Jakobsson is an Icelandic author and scholar.
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Jóhann Hafstein
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jóhann Hafstein was elected to the Althingi for Reykjavík in 1946, which he represented until 1978, when he resigned due to ill health. Jóhann served as prime minister of Iceland from 10 July 1970 to 14 July 1971, for the Independence Party, following the tragic death of prime minister Bjarni Benediktsson. Hafstein also become the chairman for the Independence Party immediately. Hafstein's cabinet was replaced and defeated in the 1971 parliamentary election, causing him to step down as prime minister. Hafstein stepped down as party leader in 1973 following health problems. He died on 15 May 1980 due to a long illness that had previously caused him to resign two years earlier.
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Ari Trausti Guðmundsson
- Occupations
- philosopherpoliticianwriterexplorerjournalist
- Biography
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Ari Trausti Guðmundsson is an Icelandic geologist, author, documentarian, broadcaster, journalist, lecturer, mountaineer and explorer. He worked as teacher, consultant and lecturer on: earth science, environmental and tourism issues. He served as a mountain guide, TV- weather reporter, media presenter and producer and has planned nature and science exhibitions in Iceland, Paris and London and authored non-fiction books, fiction and poetry. He was a presidential candidate in 2012. He was elected as a member of Icelandic Parliament in 2016 and served until 2021.
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Karl Sigurbjörnsson
- Occupations
- priest
- Biography
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Karl Sigurbjörnsson was an Icelandic prelate who held the position of Bishop of Iceland of the national Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland from 1998 to 2012.
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Sigríður Á. Andersen
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Sigríður Ásthildur Andersen is an Icelandic politician and lawyer who served as the Minister of Justice of Iceland from 2017–2019. She resigned as minister of justice in March 2019 after the European Court of Human Rights found her appointments of judges to the Icelandic court of appeals to be illegal.
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Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir is an Icelandic politician who is a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the South Constituency since 2013 and has also served as Chairman of the Icelandic Delegation to the Nordic Council since 2017.
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Pawel Bartoszek
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- Studied in 2005
- Occupations
- mathematicianpolitician
- Biography
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Paweł Bartoszek is a Polish-born Icelandic politician. In 2010 he was elected in the Constitutional Assembly election. In the 2016 Icelandic parliamentary election, he was elected as a Member of the Althing, representing Viðreisn. In the 2018 Icelandic municipal elections, he was elected to the Reykjavík City Council. Bartoszek holds a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Iceland.
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Ásta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ásta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir is an Icelandic politician, lawmaker and a former Speaker of Alþingi, Iceland's parliament. She was Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security from 1 February 2009 – 14 May 2009. She served as speaker of the Althing from 2009 to 2013. She has been a member of the Alþing since 1995.
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Eygló Harðardóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Eygló Harðardóttir is an Icelandic politician and former cabinet member. She served as Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Housing from 2013 to 2017. She has a degree in art from the University of Stockholm and has studied economics at the University of Iceland. She became active in local politics in 2003 for Framsóknarflokkurinn, a Nordic agrarian centre-right party. In 2008 she was elected as a representative to the Althing, the Icelandic parliament.
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Ýmir Vigfússon
- Occupations
- computer scientistengineer
- Biography
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Ymir Vigfusson is an Icelandic hacker, computer science professor, and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CTO of Keystrike, a cybersecurity company, and Associate Professor at Emory University, where he directs the Emory Simbiosys lab.
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Árni Þór Sigurðsson
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Árni Þór Sigurðsson is an Icelandic diplomat and former member of the Althing. He is currently the ambassador of Iceland to Denmark, and previously served as ambassador to Finland and to the Russian Federation.
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Siv Friðleifsdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Björg Siv Juhlin Friðleifsdóttir, commonly known as Siv Friðleifsdóttir, is an Icelandic politician. She is half-Norwegian, having partly grown up in Norway, where she spent almost every summer next to the Oslofjord with her grandparents. She was a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the Progressive Party for the Reykjanes constituency from 1995 to 2003 and represented the Southwest Iceland constituency from 2003 to 2013. She has been Chairman of the Progressive Party parliamentary group since 2007, was Minister of Health and Social Security from 2006 to 2007, and Minister for the Environment and Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 1999 to 2004.
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Hannes Pétursson
- Occupations
- writertranslatorpoetlinguist
- Biography
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Hannes Pétursson is an Icelandic poet and writer who has authored a number of books of poetry and other works and received many awards. He is amongst the most widely translated of living Icelandic poets. He is a recipient of the German Henrik Steffens Prize in 1975 and the Icelandic Literary Prize for his poetry collection Eldhylur in 1993.
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Björgvin G. Sigurðsson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Björgvin G. Sigurðsson is an Icelandic politician, representing the Social Democratic Alliance. He became Iceland's first Minister of Business Affairs when the new ministry was split off from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on 24 May 2007. On 25 January 2009 Björgvin announced he would be stepping down as Minister effective immediately, firing the head of the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority as his last official act. He thus assumed part of the political responsibility for the current financial crisis and the associated protests. He was a been a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the South Iceland constituency from 2003 to 2013.
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Guðmundur Finnbogason
- Years
- 1873-1944 (aged 71)
- Occupations
- psychologistphilosopher
- Biography
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Guðmundur Finnbogason was an Icelandic philosopher, the son of Guðrún Jónsdóttir and Finnbogi Finnbogason. He was one of the first Icelandic psychologists. His work "Sympathetic Understanding" inspired Jean Piaget's development stages model.
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Ásthildur Sturludóttir
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 51)
- Occupations
- business consultantpoliticianproject manager
- Biography
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Ásthildur Sturludóttir is the current mayor of the Icelandic city of Akureyri and has held the position since 2018.
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Snorri Hergill Kristjánsson
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Snorri Kristjánsson is an Iceland-born writer. His family moved to Norway in 1983, where he lived for seven years. Since 2005, Snorri, has been based in The United Kingdom, and currently lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Morag Hood. Swords of Good Men, a Viking fantasy novel, is his first novel released in 2013, and the first instalment of the Valhalla Saga. The second part of the saga is called Blood Will Follow and the third part Path of the Gods. He has since then published two books in the Helga Finnsdottir series, Kin and Council. He graduated with a BA in English from the University of Iceland in 2010, his thesis was on editing a novel, supported by two 300-page manuscripts of the book that would ultimately become Swords of Good Men. Prior to that he studied drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
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Helgi Hjörvar
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Helgi Hjörvar is an Icelandic politician. He served as President of the Nordic Council in 2010.
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Ragna Árnadóttir
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Ragna Árnadóttir is an Icelandic lawyer, politician and former Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs of Iceland. She previously served as the acting office manager of the Prime Minister's Office from 15 January 2009.
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Ólafur Skúlason
- Occupations
- priest
- Biography
-
Ólafur Skúlason was an Icelandic prelate who was Bishop of Iceland from 1989 to 1997. Since 1996 he had been accused of sexually abusing many women, including his daughter.
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Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir is an Icelandic politician. A graduate of the University of Iceland and the Bologna Center of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, she was Iceland's Minister for the Environment from 24 May 2007 to 1 February 2009. She was member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) from 1999 to 2011, first elected as a member of Women's List, then the Social Democratic Alliance.
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Jón Sigurðsson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Jón Sigurðsson was an Icelandic politician. He was brought in as Minister of Industry and Commerce for the Progressive Party when Halldór Ásgrímsson abandoned politics. He was later elected party chairman from 2006 to 2007 but resigned after he failed to win a seat in the Althing (Iceland's parliament). Prior to that, he had been governor of the Central Bank of Iceland from 2003 to 2006.
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Andri Steinþór Björnsson
- Years
- 1973-.. (age 52)
- Occupations
- psychologist
- Biography
-
Andri Steinþór Björnsson is a clinical psychologist and an associate professor of psychology at the University of Iceland. In addition to his work on body dysmorphic syndrome, he has hosted a series of radio programs on science and the scientific method broadcast by RÚV, as well as editing and writing books on science aimed at the general public.
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Reynir Grétarsson
- Occupations
- chief executive officer
- Biography
-
Reynir F. Grétarsson is an Icelandic entrepreneur, philanthropist, Icelandic map collector and author of "About Mapping Iceland" Founder and former CEO of Creditinfo Group, a multinational credit bureau and risk management company. Reynir was selected entrepreneur of the year in Iceland in 2008.
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Eirikur Bergmann
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Eirikur Bergmann is an Icelandic academic and writer. He is author of ten academic books and three novels.
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Sigurjón Þórðarson
- Occupations
- biologistpolitician
- Biography
-
Sigurjón Þórðarson is an Icelandic politician. He was a member of the Althing for the Liberal Party from 2003 to 2007, and returned to the Althing in the 2024 election for the People's Party.
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Berglind Ásgeirsdóttir
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
-
Berglind Ásgeirsdóttir is an Icelandic diplomat. From 2016 to 2020 she has been Iceland's ambassador to the Russian Federation.
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Gylfi Magnússon
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teachereconomist
- Biography
-
Gylfi Magnússon is an Icelandic economist, a professor at University of Iceland and former chair of the Icelandic Competition Authority (Samkeppniseftirlitið). He was Minister for Economic Affairs in the coalition government of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. He served as Minister of Business Affairs from 1 February 2009 until 1 October the same year and then served as Minister of Economic Affairs until 2 September 2010.
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Bergdís Ellertsdóttir
- Years
- 1962-.. (age 63)
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
-
Bergdís Ellertsdóttir is an Icelandic diplomat. She is the current ambassador of Iceland to the United States. She was a permanent representative of Iceland to the United Nations 2018–2019. Since 1991, when she joined Iceland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, she has had a diplomatic career with assignments covering NATO, EFTA, and the European Union. She has also served as Iceland's ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and San Marino.
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Pétur Sigurgeirsson
- Occupations
- author
- Biography
-
Pétur Sigurgeirsson was the Bishop of Iceland from 1981 until 1989.
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Stefan Karlsson
- Years
- 1950-.. (age 75)
- Occupations
- biotechnologist
- Biography
-
Stefan Karlsson is a Professor of Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy at the Lund Stem Cell Center, in the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Sweden. He is recognized for significant contributions to the fields of gene therapy and hematopoietic stem cell biology and in 2009 was awarded the Tobias Prize by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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Brynjar Þór Níelsson
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
-
Brynjar Níelsson is an Icelandic politician who was a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the Reykjavík North constituency from 2013 to 2016 and the Reykjavík South constituency from 2016 to 2021, representing for the Independence Party.
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Hallgerður Gísladóttir
- Occupations
- poettelevision presenterwriterethnologistanthropologist
- Biography
-
Hallgerður Gísladóttir was an Icelandic ethnologist and poet. Her specialty was Icelandic food traditions and gastronomy, and Icelandic man-made caves.
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Katrín Fjeldsted
- Years
- 1946-.. (age 79)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Katrín Fjeldsted is an Icelandic politician and medical doctor. She has been a member of Reykjavík city council and a member of parliament at Iceland's Althingi. She was elected to Iceland's Constitutional Assembly in 2010. She has been the chairman of the Icelandic College of Family Physicians and was the President of the Standing Committee of European Doctors from 2013 until 2015.
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Líneik Anna Sævarsdóttir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Líneik Anna Sævarsdóttir is an Icelandic politician who is a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for the Northeast Constituency since 2013 and she has also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional and Supervisory Committee since 2017.
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Atli Ingólfsson
- Occupations
- composer
- Biography
-
Atli Ingólfsson is a composer. His works have been performed in new music festivals across Europe and occasionally overseas. His oeuvre comprises a big range of different works, from solo to orchestral to music theatre. Of his chamber works, the most widely performed might be Object of Terror for chamber group (Ed. Ricordi, Milan), present on his profile CD Enter, issued by BIS in Stockholm in 2005
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Margrét Guðnadóttir
- Years
- 1929-2018 (aged 89)
- Occupations
- scientist
- Biography
-
Margrét Guðmunda Guðnadóttir was an Icelandic doctor and virologist and the first woman to become a professor at the University of Iceland.
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Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir
- Years
- 1954-.. (age 71)
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- 1975-1979 graduated with Bachelor of Science
- Occupations
- earth scientist
- Biography
-
Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir is an Icelandic Earth and sustainability scientist and activist who is Professor of Sustainability Science in the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland. She was the first woman to be a full professor in Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol in the UK and at the same time the first woman to become a full professor in the Science Faculty there. She was also the first woman to serve as Dean of a School at the University of Iceland.
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Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir
- Years
- 1965-.. (age 60)
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
-
Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic professor of medieval Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland.
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Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir
- Years
- 1945-.. (age 80)
- Occupations
- professor
- Biography
-
Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir is a professor emerita in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Iceland, and was a co-founder of the biotechnology company Zymetech, where she also works in research & development.
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Sóley Sesselja Bender
- Years
- 1953-.. (age 72)
- Enrolled in the University of Iceland
- Graduated with Bachelor of Science
- Occupations
- nurse scientist
- Biography
-
Sóley Sesselja Bender is a professor at the Faculty of Nursing of the University of Iceland. Her specialty is sexual and reproductive health, where she has worked for years on these health matters. She has pioneered in the development of teaching in the field of sexual and reproductive health, contraceptive counselling, and sexual and reproductive health policy formulation in Iceland and internationally.
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Ragnheiður Bragadóttir
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Ragnheiður Bragadóttir is a professor in law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Iceland.
