Jón Sigurðsson (23 August 1946 – 10 September 2021) was an Icelandic politician. He was brought in as Minister of Industry and Commerce for the Progressive Party when Halldór Ásgrímsson abandoned politics. He was later elected party chairman from 2006 to 2007 but resigned after he failed to win a seat in the Althing (Iceland's parliament). Prior to that, he had been governor of the Central Bank of Iceland from 2003 to 2006.

Early life and career

Jón was born in Kollafjörður, Iceland, to Sigurður Ellert Ólason, a lawyer, and Unnur Kolbeinsdóttir, a teacher. Jón studied at Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, where he graduated in 1966. From there, he studied Icelandic and history at the University of Iceland. He graduated with a BA degree in those subjects three years later. Jón took on the job of editor of Tíminn in 1978 and served there until 1981. After that he became principal of Samvinnuskólinn at

Bifröst In Norse mythology, Bifröst (), also called Bilröst, is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard (Earth) and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge is attested as ''Bilröst'' in the ''Poetic Edda''; compiled in the 13th centur ...

and later he became rector of the school until 1991.

Death

In 2017, Jón was diagnosed with advanced

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

. He died from the illness in September 2021.

References

External links

Official biography of Jón Sigurðsson on the parliament website
1946 births 2021 deaths Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland Jon Sigurdsson Jon Sigurdsson Jon Sigurdsson Columbia Pacific University alumni Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in Iceland {{Iceland-politician-stub