Birta Abiba Þórhallsdóttir (born 1 September 2001) is an Icelandic model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Iceland 2019. She represented Iceland at

Miss Universe 2019 Miss Universe 2019 was the 68th Miss Universe pageant, held at Stage 1 of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on 8 December 2019. At the end of the event, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa was crowned as Miss Universe 2019 by ...

, where she placed in the top 10.

Early life

Birta was born and raised in

Mosfellsbær Mosfellsbær (, colloquially Mosó) is a town in south-west Iceland, east of the country's capital, Reykjavík. The coat of arms of the municipality is a tightly-knotted triquetra, a symbol often used in Celtic knotwork and strongly associated ...

, a town just outside of

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 ...

. Her biological father is Congolese. Throughout her life, Birta was the victim of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

, having experienced violence and verbal abuse because of her skin color. Birta has worked for the

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a aid agency, humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of Law of ...

study aid program, in an effort to encourage children's literacy and education abroad. As a teenager, Birta wrote a full-length novel.

Pageantry

Birta represented Geysir at the Miss Universe Iceland 2019 which was held on 31 August 2019 at the Stapi Hall Hljómahöll in

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. ...

. She was one of the winners and was crowned as Miss Universe Iceland 2019, being crowned by outgoing titleholder

Katrín Lea Elenudóttir Katrín Lea Elenudóttir (born Ekaterina Skorobogatova, ; 22 February 1999) is an Icelandic model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Iceland 2018. She represented Iceland at Miss Universe 2018 pageant in Bangkok, Thail ...

. As Miss Universe Iceland, Þórhallsdóttir represented Iceland at the

competition, where she placed in the top 10.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorhallsdottir, Birta Abiba 1999 births Birta Abiba Þórhallsdóttir Birta Abiba Þórhallsdóttir Birta Abiba Þórhallsdóttir Living people Miss Universe 2019 contestants Birta Abiba Þórhallsdóttir