Auður Auðuns (18 February 1911 – 19 October 1999) was 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 lawyer and politician from the Independence Party. She set several records as she became the first Icelandic woman to obtain a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

, the first female

Mayor of Reykjavík The post of Mayor of Reykjavík () 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 wish to renew his tenure. Rather ...

and the first female cabinet member in Iceland when she became Minister of Justice and Church in the short-lived 1970–71 cabinet of

Jóhann Hafstein Jóhann Hafstein (19 September 1915 – 15 May 1980) was elected to the Althingi for the Reykjavík constituency in 1946, which he represented until 1978, when he resigned due to ill health. Jóhann served as prime minister of Iceland from 10 Jul ...

. Auður grew up in Isafjördur in the remote

Westfjords The Westfjords or West Fjords (, ) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative region, the least populous in the country. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of I ...

in North-Western Iceland as the daughter of Margrét Guðrún Jónsdóttir and Jón Auðunn Jónsson, an MP for first the Conservative Party and from 1929 onwards for its successor the Independence Party. At 14 she went to live with relatives in Reykjavík in order to pursue her education. Auður graduated from the prestigious

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR; official name in English: Reykjavik College) is collegein Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains one of the oldest ...

in 1929 and got a

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 1935. She then spent a year studying Icelandic rhetoric and speech patterns in her hometown before she married high court attorney Hermann Jónsson, with whom she had four children Jón (1939), Einar (1942), Margrét (1949), and Árni (1954). She worked for twenty years as a lawyer for the Single Mothers Assistance Committee in Reykjavík 1940–60, was a leading member of the

Icelandic Women's Rights Association The Icelandic Women's Rights Association () 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 association stands for an inclusive, intersectional ...

and acted as an advisor to the government on a number of topics related to

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...

, children and women's issues. Auður was a city councillor in Reykjavík for 24 years between 1946 and 1970 and chaired the City Council 1954–59 and 1960–70. From 19 November 1959 to 5 October 1960 she was Co-Mayor with future

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Geir Hallgrímsson Geir Hallgrímsson (16 December 1925 – 1 September 1990) was the prime minister of Iceland for the Independence Party from 28 August 1974 to 1 September 1978. Before that he had been mayor of Reykjavík from 1959 to 1972. Geir was a member of ...

and acted as his

mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

. He subsequently became the sole Mayor 1960–74. She was elected to the Althing from 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 1959–74 having previously been a substitute member 1947–48. She served on the Public Broadcasting Board 1975–78. Auður was a delegate at the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

in 1967 and chaired the Icelandic delegation at the UN Women's Conference in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1975.

External links

Non auto-biography of Auður Auðuns on the parliament website
1911 births 1999 deaths Women mayors of places in Iceland Members of justice of Iceland Women government ministers of Iceland Female interior ministers 20th-century Icelandic women politicians 20th-century Icelandic politicians Female justice ministers First women mayors {{Iceland-politician-stub