Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir (born 12 October 1966) is a former

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 minister, mayor and parliamentarian. She is currently the chair of the Executive Board of Women Political Leaders, Global Forum.womenpoliticalleaders.org Before that, she was the

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

after getting 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 ...

(Icelandic parliament) in 2013, and was

Mayor of Reykjavík The post of Mayor of Reykjavík ( is, Borgarstjóri Reykjavíkur) was created in 1907 and advertised in 1908. Páll Einarsson and Knud Zimsen applied for the job and Páll got the position for a period of six years, at the end of which he did not w ...

from 21 August 2008 to 15 June 2010, the president for the city council from 2006 to 2008 and member of the city council from 2002 to 2013. She represented the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkur). Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir was born on 12 October 1966 to Aðalheiður J. Björnsdóttir and Kristján Ármannsson. She was born and raised in

Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður (), officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður (), is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region, on the southwest coast of t ...

. She is married to business consultant Vilhjálmur Jens Árnason; they have two daughters. She obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at 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 1991. After that, she got a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in international and European politics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

(1993). By 1995, she was a member of 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 ...

, becoming a member of committee of the party's district association in Austurbær and Norðurmýri. She held various positions in the party, including Secretary General of the Parliamentary Group from 1995 to 1999 and Assistant Manager of the Independence Party from 1999 to 2006. Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir was elected to the City Council of Reykjavík in 2002. From 2006 to 2008, she was the President of the City Council and the Chair of the Planning Committee. From 2008 to 2010 she was the

. In 2013, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir was elected to the

Parliament of Iceland 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 "assembl ...

as the first MP for the Reykjavík South constituency. In the same year, she was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Independence Party. She became

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in 2013. On 21 November 2014, she

resigned Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

as Minister of the Interior as a response to one of her political assistant admitting leaking information regarding asylum seekers on 20 November 2013. Hanna Birna always claimed not having any knowledge of the wrongdoing of her assistant, but her resignation took effect on 4 December 2014 after the assistant pleaded guilty for the Reykjavík district court on 11 November 2014. In 2015, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir became chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the

. In 2016, she became the chair of the Executive Board of Women Political Leaders, Global Forum.

References

External links

Biography
on

Alþingi 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristjansdottir, Hanna Birna 1966 births Living people Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir Female interior ministers Alumni_of_the_University_of_Edinburgh