Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/1
Leif Ericson (
Old Norse:
Leifr Eiríksson) (
c. 980 –
c. 1020) was an
Icelandic/
Norwegian explorer and the first
European thought to have landed in
North America—more specifically, the region that would become
Newfoundland and, by later extension,
Canada. His exploration resulted in several settlements, with some evidence suggesting that later
Norsemen may eventually have penetrated as far as
Minnesota, either coming down from
Hudson Bay or going west through the
Great Lakes.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/2
Björk Guðmundsdóttir (born
November 21,
1965 in
Reykjavík,
Iceland) is a
Brit Award-winning
Icelandic singer/songwriter and
composer (formerly the lead singer of
alternative rock band
The Sugarcubes), with an expressive range and an interest in many kinds of music including
pop, alternative rock,
jazz,
ambient music,
electronica,
folk, and
classical music. She is known for her innovative
music videos and individualistic music. Her record label,
One Little Indian, reported in 2003 that she has sold over 15 million albums worldwide.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/3 Arnaldur Indriðason (born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction. He has repeatedly proved to be the most popular writer in Iceland in recent years – topping bestseller lists year after year. In the year 2004 his books were seven of the ten most popular titles borrowed in Reykjavík City Library. Arnaldur's books have been published in 26 countries and have been translated into German, Danish, English, Italian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish and French. Indriðason received the Glass Key, a literature prize for the best nordic crime novel, in both 2002 and 2003. He won the Gold Dagger Award in 2005 for the novel Silence of the Grave.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/4
Ásmundur Sveinsson was an Icelandic sculptor, was born at Kolsstadir in West
Iceland on
May 20,
1893 and died in
Reykjavík on
December 9,
1982. His themes were often men and women at work and included such pieces as,
The Blacksmith,
The Washer Women and
The Water Carrier. During the
1940s Ásmundur's work moved even farther away from the human and animal form that had been his mainstay until then and by the
1950s he was producing work that was almost entirely abstract. Like many Icelandic artists Ásmundur drew upon the traditions of his native country when seeking subjects to inspire him. These include
Trollwoman, (
1948),
Head Ransom, (
1948), based on a poem that
Egil Skallagrimsson composed to save his own head and
Hell-Ride, (
1944) taken from the
Prose Edda of
Snorri Sturlusson.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/5
Davíð Oddsson (born
17 January 1948 in
Reykjavík) is an
Icelandic politician and the longest-serving
Prime Minister of Iceland, holding office from 1991 to 2004. He also served as
foreign minister from 2004 to 2005. Previously, he was
mayor of Reykjavík from 1982 to 1991, and since 2005 he has chaired the board of governors of the
Central Bank of Iceland. By Icelandic standards, Davíð Oddsson’s career is very successful. He was only 34 years old when he became Mayor of Reykjavík, and only 43 years when he formed his first government. Although his implementation of wide-ranging and radical free-market reforms against bitter opposition generated controversy, he has left a large mark on Icelandic political history and that under his leadership, the Icelandic economy has changed beyond recognition.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/6
Einar Jónsson (
May 11,
1874 –
October 18,
1954) was an
Icelandic sculptor, born in
Galtafell, a farm in southern Iceland. Unlike most other sculptors, Einar worked almost entirely in
plaster. This had to do partly with the lack of good
modeling clay in Iceland, but it allowed Einar to work on his individual sculptures for years. Spending over a decade on a particular piece was not uncommon for him. The themes for his works—public monuments, private commissions, and private works—are frequently drawn from
Norse mythology and Icelandic
folk tales. Einar's world is populated by
angels and
trolls, by beautiful women and bold warriors, and most of all a layer of symbolic content that can invariably be felt, but not always understood.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/7
Erik the Red (
950–c.
1003) founded the first
Nordic settlement in
Greenland. Born in the
Jæren district of
Rogaland,
Norway as the son of
Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson (Thorvald Asvaldsson), he therefore also appears,
patronymically, as Erik Thorvaldsson (or as Eiríkr Þorvaldsson). The
appellation the Red most likely refers to his hair color. Erik the Red had to flee Norway because of "some killings", as
The Saga of Eric the Red recounts. He and his family settled in
Iceland. The Icelanders later exiled Erik for several murders around the year
982.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/8
Geir Hilmar Haarde is
Prime Minister of
Iceland and chairman of the
Independence Party. Geir became Prime Minister on
June 15,
2006 following the announcement of
Halldór Ásgrímsson's resignation as the
Prime Minister of Iceland on
June 5,
2006. He then led a coalition between his party and the Progressive Party. After the
2007 parliamentary elections, where the Independence Party increased their share of the vote, Haarde renewed his term as Prime Minister leading a coalition between his party and the
Alliance.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/9
Halldór Kiljan Laxness (born
Halldór Guðjónsson) (
April 23,
1902 –
February 8,
1998) was a
20th century Icelandic author of such novels as
Salka Valka,
Independent People,
The Atom Station,
Paradise Reclaimed,
Iceland's Bell,
The Fish Can Sing and
World Light. He won the
Nobel Prize in Literature in
1955. When he was 14 years old, his first article was published in
Morgunblaðið under the name
H.G. Not much later he published an article (about an old clock) under his own name in the same paper. During his career he wrote 51
novels,
poetry, many newspaper articles,
plays,
travelogues,
short stories and more.
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/10
Jón Sigurðsson (
June 17,
1811 –
December 7,
1879) was the leader of the
19th century Icelandic independence movement. He is often referred to as President (
Jón forseti) by Icelanders. The main reason for this is that since 1851 he served as President of the Copenhagen Department of
Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag (the Icelandic Literature Society). He was also the president of Althing several times, for the first time in 1849. He is currently pictured on Iceland's 500
krónur bill, and has been honoured on Icelandic postage stamps on the centenaries of his birth and death, the 150th anniversary of his birth, and on the creation of the Republic of Iceland (on his 133rd birthday).
Portal:Iceland/Selected biography/11 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (born 15 April 1930) was the fourth president of Iceland, serving from 1980 to 1996. She was the world's first elected female president. She was Iceland's first and so far only female president and head of state. In 1980 she was the first woman in the world to be elected the head of state in a democratic election. She was narrowly elected over three male opponents. She was subsequently reelected three times (in 1984, in 1992, and overwhelmingly in 1988), before retiring in 1996. Although the Icelandic presidency is largely a ceremonial position, she took an active role in promoting the country as a cultural ambassador and enjoyed great popularity. Currently, she is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and a Member of the Club of Madrid.
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