Geir Hallgrímsson (16 December 1925 – 1 September 1990) was the

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 supp ...

for the Independence Party from 28 August 1974 to 1 September 1978. Before that he had been 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 ...

and a member of the Icelandic parliament, 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 "assemb ...

Early life and education

Geir Hallgrímsson was born in Reykjavík and educated at

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR; official name in English: Reykjavik Junior College) is a junior college in Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains o ...

and 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 servant ...

, where he studied law; he spent a year in the US at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, studying law and economics.

Career

Geir was mayor of Reykjavík from 1959 to 1972. During his term he greatly expanded the city and improved its infrastructure. Under his guidance the geothermal heating system was expanded to the whole city; it had previously only been available to less than half. He also improved the streets by turning the mostly gravel roads into modern asphalt streets. He was popular as mayor and in an open primary for the municipal elections he won 99% of the votes in 1970. In the fall of 1970 he came in number one in the primary for elections to Althing, ahead of prime minister

Jóhann Hafstein Jóhann Hafstein (Akureyri, 19 September 1915 – 15 May 1980) was elected to the Althingi for Reykjavík in 1946, which he represented until 1978. Jóhann was prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðher ...

and former mayor

Gunnar Thoroddsen Gunnar Thoroddsen (pronounced ) (29 December 1910 – 25 September 1983) was the prime minister of Iceland from 1980 to 1983. Gunnar was the youngest man ever elected to the Althing, Iceland's Parliament. He was 23 years old when he was el ...

. He was a member of parliament from 1970 (taking his permanent seat with the death of prime minister Bjarni Benediktsson) until 1983. In 1971 he was elected vice chairman of the Independence Party and in 1973 he became chairman after

resigned for health reasons. In 1974 he led the Independence Party to one of its greatest victories. The party won 42.5% of the vote and 25 out of 60 parliamentary seats. He then led a coalition government with the Progressive party from 1974 to 1978. His government expanded the fishing limits to 200 miles (370 km) and had to fight Britain in the '

Cod War The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...

'. After Iceland had broken diplomatic relations with Britain in 1976 over the dispute, negotiations led to an agreement in June that year. According to the agreement Britain accepted the 200 mile zone. In 1978 the government suffered a setback after it had set a law that limited wage increases. The law was an attempt to curb inflation, which was running close to 50%. The two government parties lost five parliamentary seats each and a new coalition government was formed without the Independence Party. A year later the Independence Party failed to make significant gains in an election after the government had resigned. Geir also faced opposition within his own party and came in number two in primary elections in 1978. Albert Gudmundssson won the first seat. A year later Geir won the first seat back. He twice won elections against his opponents for the chairmanship. In both 1979 and 1981 he received about 75% of the vote, first against Albert Gudmundsson and then against Pálmi Jónsson, then minister of agriculture. In 1980 the vice chairman of the Independence Party,

, decided to break ranks within the party and lead a group of four members to form a coalition government with the People's Alliance (Socialist party) and the Progressive Party. Geir was leader of the opposition. The Independence Party was united in the 1983 parliamentary election. However Geir suffered a setback when he came in seventh in the primary for the parliamentary elections and lost his seat in parliament. After the elections he announced that he would not seek re-election as party chairman. He served as foreign minister in the coalition government with the Progressive Party from 1983 until 1986. He left government in 1986, becoming one of the three Governors of the

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland ( is, Seðlabanki Íslands) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It has served in this capacity since 1961, when it was created by an act of the Alþingi out of the central banking department of Landsbank ...

, a position he held until his death in September 1990.https://www.sedlabanki.is/library/Skraarsafn/ymsar-skrar/Bankastjorn%20fra%20upphafi.pdf

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Geir Hallgrimsson Halgrimsson Geir Halgrimsson Geir Leaders of the Independence Party (Iceland) Mayors of Reykjavík Members of the Althing Halgrimsson Geir Prime Ministers of Iceland Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland University of Iceland alumni Grand Knights of the Order of the Falcon Grand Knights with Star of the Order of the Falcon Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic