Össur Skarphéðinsson (pronounced ; born 19 June 1953) is an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from February 2009 to May 2013. Össur matriculated from the Reykjavík Grammar School in 1973, and gained a BS in biology from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) 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' school to a modern co ...

in 1979, and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

in 1983 entitled ''"The effect of photoperiod on the growth of the rainbow trout''". He was a member of the parliament (

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

) for the

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Constituency from 1991 to 2003, and for Reykjavík North Constituency from 2003 to 2016. He was Chairman of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

parliamentary group from 1991 to 1993, Minister for the Environment from 1993 to 1995, and Chairman of the

Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance (, ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Iceland, political party in Iceland. The party is positioned on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum and their ...

from 2000 to 2005. Össur was appointed Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism for the Social Democratic Alliance in May 2007. He was also Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 24 May 2007 to 10 June 2008.CV at Althing website
In February 2009, he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.

References

External links

Personal blogÖssur's profile; from Wikileaks

Profile of Össur Skarphéðinsson in English, ''European Voice'', 22 April 2010
1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of East Anglia Ossur Skarphedinsson Ossur Skarphedinsson Ossur Skarphedinsson Ossur Skarphedinsson Ossur Skarphedinsson Ossur Skarphedinsson Ossur Skarphedinsson Energy ministers of Iceland Tourism ministers of Iceland {{Iceland-politician-stub