- Sigurðardóttir, Jóhanna
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▪ prime minister of Icelandborn Oct. 4, 1942, Reykjavík, Ice.Icelandic politician who became prime minister of Iceland in 2009. She was the country's first female prime minister and the world's first openly gay head of government (Per-Kristian Foss served briefly as acting prime minister of Norway in 2002).Sigurðardóttir worked as a flight attendant for Loftleiðir Icelandic Airlines from 1962 to 1971, and she was an active labour union member, twice serving as chairman of the board of the Icelandic Cabin Crew Association (1966, 1969). She took an office job in Reykjavík in 1971. While there she continued her association with organized labour, and she sat on the board of the Commercial Workers' Union. In 1978 Sigurðardóttir was elected to the Althingi (parliament) as a member of the Social Democratic Party, representing Reykjavík. She quickly gained a reputation as an advocate for social justice, and she called for the strengthening of Iceland's welfare system. She was named minister of social affairs in 1987, a position she held until 1994, when she unsuccessfully campaigned for leadership of the Social Democratic Party. Sigurðardóttir responded to this setback by forming her own party, National Movement, which captured four seats in the subsequent parliamentary election. The two parties reconciled in 1999, when they joined with the Women's Alliance and the People's Alliance to contest that year's election; in 2000 the coalition formally became the Social Democratic Alliance.By this time Sigurðardóttir had established herself as one of the leading personalities in Icelandic politics. She returned to the ministry of social affairs in 2007, and she emerged as a voice of calm in the wake of Iceland's financial collapse in 2008. After the resignation of conservative Prime Minister Geir Haarde in January 2009, Sigurðardóttir led a coalition of Social Democrats and Left-Greens to form a minority government that would hold power until elections in May 2009. On Feb. 1, 2009, she was formally sworn in as Iceland's prime minister.Michael Ray
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Universalium. 2010.
