Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir served as Prime Minister of Iceland from 2009-2013. She was the first female Prime Minister of Iceland and was the world’s first openly gay Prime minister.
Sigurðardóttir studied at the Commercial College of Iceland and graduated with a degree in 1960 (the Commercial College of Iceland is the equivalent of a vocational high school).
In 1962, Sigurðardóttir became a stewardess for Loftleiðir Icelandic airlines and remained one until 1971. Her political life began while working as a stewardess through the unions. She was a very active unionist, “twice serving as chairman of the board of the Icelandic Cabin Crew Association (1966, 1969).”
Despite having worked extensively for various airline unions, Sigurðardóttir’s professional political career is said to have begun in 1978, when she was elected into the Althingi (the Icelandic Parliament) representing the Reykjavík constituency.
While in the Althingi, Sigurðardóttir served as Deputy Speaker in 1979, from 1983 to 1984, and from 2003 to 2007.
She served on numerous committees ranging from Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Affairs to Economy/Trade and Social Affairs. Additionally, she served as Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security twice – from 1987 to 1994 and from 2007 to 2009. Sigurðardóttir is Iceland’s longest serving member of Parliament and has been listed among Forbes’ 100 most powerful women in the world.
In 2017, she released a biography entitled Minn tími (“My Time”).
