Guðrún Björnsdóttir (27 November 1853 – 11 September 1936) was an Icelandic politician and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. She was a founder of the

Icelandic Women's Rights Association The Icelandic Women's Rights Association ( is, italic=no, Kvenréttindafélag Íslands) is the largest women's rights organization in Iceland and works for "women’s rights and the equal status of all genders in all areas of society." The associa ...

and one of the first female members of the

Reykjavík City Council The City Council is the governing body of the City of Reykjavík, composed of representatives elected by the inhabitants of the city. The council Municipality is responsible for enforcing the issues which that the State has delegated to local aut ...

Early life and family

Guðrún Björnsdóttir was born at Eyjólfsstaðir on 27 November 1853 where she lived until the age of 10 when her father died. She was then sent to

Eskifjörður Eskifjörður (in original spelling; ), or Eskifjördur is a town and port in eastern Iceland with a large fishing industry. With a population of 1,043 it is one of the most populous towns in the municipality of Fjarðabyggð. History Eskifjörðu ...

for foster care, but soon moved to Langanes to live with her uncle. For a brief period she lived in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, but after a while returned to her relatives in Langanes. In 1884, she married pastor Lárus Jóhannesson, and in Sauðanes they raised four daughters. After only four years of marriage, Guðrún's husband died. One of her daughters would go on to die in the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. Guðrún stayed with her brother in

Norður-Þingeyjarsýsla Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...

until she moved with her daughters to Reykjavík in 1900 where she became a milk vendor. She also began writing articles in the papers about milk sales and personal hygiene.

Political career

Guðrún was prominent in the local women's rights movement in the early 20th century and was a founder of the

. She was one of the first women elected to the

. Alongside her in City Council were three other newly elected women;

Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir (September 27, 1856 – March 16, 1940) was an early Icelandic advocate for women's liberation and women's suffrage. She founded the first women's magazine in Iceland, ''Kvennablaðið''. For a period of time she serv ...

, Þórunn Jónassen, and Katrín Magnússon. Guðrún sat in the town council in 1908 to 1914, focused on health and educational issues. In particular, she promoted women's education and their right to hold office. She helped towards establishing a Women's Student Scholarship Fund.

Death and legacy

Guðrún died in Reykjavík on 11 September 1936. A memorial about her, which appeared in ''

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 ...

'' on 18 September 1936, wrote about her: In November 2010, the Reykjavík City Council announced that a street in the city, would be renamed Guðrúnartún in honor of Guðrún Björnsdóttir.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudrun Bjornsdottir 1853 births 1936 deaths Politicians from Reykjavík 20th-century Icelandic women Icelandic women in politics Icelandic suffragists