Jóhann Hafstein

Jóhann Hafstein (born September 19, 1915 in Akureyri ; † May 15, 1980 ) was an Icelandic politician of the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkur) and Prime Minister of Iceland .

Life

The son of the teacher and translator of Herman Melville's novel “ Moby Dick ” into Icelandic , Júlíus Havsteen, graduated from Akureyri Grammar School in 1934 and then began studying law and international law at the University of Iceland , Denmark and Germany .

politics

His first political activities followed as a student and so he was not only chairman of the student council of the University of Iceland from 1936 to 1937, but also chairman of the National Youth Organization of the Independence Party (Samband ungra sjálfstæðismanna (SUS)) from 1943 to 1949 as the successor to Gunnar Thoroddsen he had been a member of its board since 1936 and was 1st deputy chairman from 1940 to 1943. At the same time belonged from 1943 to 1955 the city council of Reykjavík as a member. In 1938, while still a student, he married the granddaughter of the first Icelandic Prime Minister Hannes Hafstein , Ragnheiði Thors.

In 1946 he was elected for the first time as a candidate for the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkur) as a member of the Althing , in which he represented the interests of the capital Reykjavík until 1978. In 1952 he became Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) of the Fisheries Bank (Útvegsbanki Íslands). On November 14, 1963, his party friend and then Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson appointed him as Minister of Justice, Churches and Industry (Dóms- og Kirkjumálaráðherra, Iðnaðarráðherra) in his cabinet, in which he held the ministerial offices until July 10, 1970. On April 24, 1965 he was again as successor Thoroddsen deputy chairman of the Independence Party. After Prime Minister Benediktsson was killed in a fire in the government's summer residence (Thingvellir) on July 10, 1970, Hafstein succeeded him as Chairman of the Independence Party and Prime Minister of Iceland (Forsætisráðherra). As such, he formed an eight-member cabinet in which he initially held the office of Justice and Church Minister until October 10, 1970 and the office of Minister of Industry until the end of his term of office. Her successor as Justice and Church Minister was Auður Auðuns, the first female minister in an Icelandic cabinet.

However, he only held the post of prime minister for a little more than a year until July 14, 1971, when he was succeeded by Ólafur Jóhannesson , the leader of the Progressive Party (Framsóknarflokkurinn) . On October 12, 1973 he was followed by the previous deputy chairman, Geir Hallgrímsson, as chairman of the Independence Party. During his political career he was also Iceland's representative in the United Nations General Assembly in 1953, 1959 and 1974 .

swell

• Biography on the Althing homepage (Icelandic)
• Biographical information in rulers.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stúdentaráð. Forms SHÍ frá 1920-2009
2. ↑ History of the SUS 1934-1943 (Icelandic)
3. ↑ History of the SUS 1943-1951 (Icelandic)
4. ^ Cabinet Benediktsson
5. ^ Homepage of the Prime Minister
6. ^ Hafstein cabinet
7. ↑ Homepage of the Ministry of Industry (Icelandic) ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .