Björn Bjarnason (born 14 November 1944) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic politician. His father was Bjarni Benediktsson,

Prime Minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary suppo ...

, Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs and Mayor of

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

. Matriculating from Reykjavík Junior College in 1964 and graduating in law (cand. jur.) from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...

in 1971, Björn was active in student politics and after graduation worked as a publishing director of Almenna bókafélagið from 1971 to 1974. As foreign news editor he worked at daily ''

Vísir ''Vísir'' was an Icelandic newspaper founded in December 1910 by Einar Gunnarsson, originally only distributed in and around Reykjavík. In 1967, Jónas Kristjánsson became its editor. In 1975, he left the paper after a conflict with the ownersh ...

'' in 1974, as Deputy Secretary General in the Prime Minister's office from 1974 to 1975. Björn also served in the

Icelandic Coast Guard The Icelandic Coast Guard (, or simply ) is the Icelandic defence service responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety and security surveillance, and law enforcement in the seas surrounding Iceland. The Coast Guard maintains the Iceland ...

in the 1960s. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, alongside his job as a journalist, Björn regularly met with U.S. intelligence to share with them information regarding Icelandic politics and Icelandic leftist politicians and activists. Björn worked in the Prime Minister's Office from 1975 to 1979, as a journalist on Icelandic daily ''

Morgunblaðið ''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. History ''Morgunblaðið'' was founded by Vilhjálmur Finsen and Ólafur Björnsson, brother of ...

'' from 1979 to 1984 and as deputy editor of ''Morgunblaðið'' from 1984 to 1991. Björn attended the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defin ...

conference 11 times (in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995). Björn was elected to the

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...

in 1991 for the

Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

, for the

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

. On 23 April 1995 he became Minister for Education, serving until 2002. In 2002, he led the unsuccessful attempt of the Independence Party to win elections to Reykjavík

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. From 2003 to 2009, he was the Minister for Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs. He is also the first Icelandic politician to keep his own website, which he started on 19 February 1995 and thus makes him one of the Internet's earliest bloggers.

References

External links

Personal website

Official biography

Ministerial CV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjarnason, Bjorn Bjorn Bjarnason Bjorn Bjarnason Bjorn Bjarnason 1944 births Living people Independence Party (Iceland) politicians 20th-century Icelandic people Politicians from Reykjavík