Björn Jónsson (8 October 1846 – 24 November 1912) was

minister for Iceland Minister for Iceland ( da, Minister for Island, ; is, Ráðherra Íslands) was a post in the Danish cabinet for Icelandic affairs. History The post was established on 5 January 1874 as, according to the Constitution of Iceland, the executive ...

from 31 March 1909 to 14 March 1911. He was the father of

Sveinn Björnsson Sveinn Björnsson (; 27 February 1881 – 25 January 1952) was the first president of Iceland (1944–1952). Background, education and legal career Sveinn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark as the son of Björn Jónsson (editor and later minister) ...

, the only regent of Iceland and first

president of Iceland The president of Iceland ( is, Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his second term as president, elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as ...

. Björn became Minister for Iceland after

Hannes Hafstein Hannes Þórður Pétursson Hafstein (4 December 1861 – 13 December 1922) was an Icelandic politician and poet. In 1904 he became the first Icelander to be appointed to the Danish Cabinet as the minister for Iceland in the Cabinet of Deuntzer ...

and his supporters suffered losses in the elections of 1908, where the voters rejected the draft of a new constitution. Björn was forced to resign after forcing the General Director of the National Bank,

Tryggvi Gunnarsson Trygve is a masculine given name most common in Norway. Trygve is derived from the Old Norse ''tryggr'', meaning "true, trustworthy", cognate with Old English '' treowe'', Old High German ''triuwe''. Gothic has ''triggws''. The Icelandic, Faroese ...

, out of that post due to heavy criticism of their supporters. Björn and other opponents of the Draft won a landslide victory in the 1908 elections. He served as

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of 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 "assembly ...

in 1909. Björn was commonly known for

Ísafold ''Ísafold'' was an Icelandic newspaper, published weekly. It was founded in 1874 by the politician Björn Jónsson, who was the editor until 1909, when he became prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of ...

, the paper he published and edited from 1874 to 1909, and was known as Björn í Ísafold or Ísafoldar-Björn. Björn offended the Danish Authorities in 1909 by appointing a Councillor of Commerce to work on business negotiations for Iceland, when he appointed his supporter, Bjarni Jónsson frá Vogi, to that post. The Danish Authorities stated that appointing such a councillor was not in harmony with the common foreign policy of Denmark and Iceland. In 1909, Björn got alcohol prohibition accepted in the

Alþingi 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 "assembly ...

. It came into full effect in 1915, more than two years after Björn's death, and was not repealed until 1934. File:Björn Jónsson, minister of Iceland, gives a speech on June 2, 1908 regarding the autonomy of Iceland vis-a-vis Denmark.jpg, Björn Jónsson gives a speech to a gathering on 2 June 1908 regarding the autonomy of Iceland ''vis-à-vis''

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Iceland was then a

Danish colony , conventional_long_name = Danish overseas colonies , status = Empire , status_text = , life_span = 1536–1953 (Denmark)1536–1814 (Norway) , government_type = Constitutional monarchy , even ...

, gaining independence in 1944

Death

Björn's health deteriorated sharply in his last years. He died at his home in

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 ...

on 24 November 1912 after suffering a stroke few days earlier.

References

External links

Biography
on

1846 births 1912 deaths

Bjorn Jonsson Bjorn (English, Dutch), Björn (Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch, and German), Bjørn (Danish, Faroese and Norwegian), Beorn (Old English) or, rarely, Bjôrn, Biorn, or Latinized Biornus, Brum (Portuguese), is a Scandinavian male given name, or less oft ...

Ministers for Iceland {{Iceland-politician-stub