Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson (; born 26 June 1968) is an Icelandic historian and politician who served as the sixth

president of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...

from 2016 to 2024. A historian, Guðni was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at 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 ...

before running for president in 2016. His field of research is modern Icelandic history, and he has published works on the

Cod Wars The Cod Wars (; also known as , ; ) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about Exclusive economic zone, fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended ...

, the

2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis The Icelandic financial crisis was a major financial crisis, economic and political event in Iceland between 2008 and 2010. It involved the default (finance), default of all three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks in late 2 ...

and the Icelandic presidency, among other topics.

Early life and education

Guðni is the son of teacher and journalist Margrét Thorlacius and sports instructor Jóhannes Sæmundsson. His brother Patrekur Jóhannesson is a former Icelandic

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

player. Guðni played handball in his youth, in both Iceland and the UK. Guðni graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR), a junior college in central Reykjavík, in 1987. While at MR, he competed in '' Gettu betur'', an Icelandic team quiz show for junior college students. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in history and political science from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

in England in 1991 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in history from the

in 1997. He has also studied German and Russian at university level. In 1999, he completed an MSt degree in history at

St Antony's College St Antony's College is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in intern ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 2003, he received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in history from

Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

. In 2024, he was granted an honorary doctorate at the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu () is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 14,200 students and 3,800 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offer ...

Career

Guðni has worked as a lecturer at the

, Bifröst University and

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. At the time of his presidential candidacy he worked as a senior lecturer in history at the University of Iceland. His field of research is modern Icelandic history, in which he has published a number of works, including on the

, the

and the Icelandic presidency. He has written a biography of

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 ele ...

and a book about

Kristján Eldjárn Kristján Eldjárn (; 6 December 1916 – 14 September 1982) was the third president of Iceland, serving from 1968 to 1980. Biography Kristján was born in Tjörn, Svarfaðardal, Iceland. His parents were Þórarinn Kr. Eldjárn, a teacher in ...

's presidency. Between 1992 and 1997, he translated four works by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

into Icelandic. From 2011 to 2015, Guðni was president of Sögufélag, the Icelandic historical society.

Presidential candidacy

Guðni decided to stand for president on 5 May 2016. Before his candidacy, he had appeared frequently on live television to provide commentary and historical context in the wake of the publication of the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...

, which created a scandal for Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and ultimately led to his ouster. A scholar of the Icelandic presidency, Guðni delineated on live television the options available to incumbent president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and other Icelandic political actors. After his television appearances, there were calls for Guðni to run for the presidency himself. His platform included support for a citizen initiative referendum provision in the Constitution. Early polls showed significant support, and following incumbent president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson's decision to drop out of the race Guðni saw an increase in popularity reflected in various polls, which ranked him first with 67% to 69%, far ahead of other contenders. Guðni was elected on 25 June after receiving a plurality of 39.1% of the vote. Guðni was unaffiliated with any of Iceland's political parties. He said he would be a "less political president" than his predecessor due to a lack of partisanship. Guðni has emphasized the importance of unity for the small nation.

President of Iceland

First Minister meets with Icelandic President

Guðni took office as President of Iceland on 1 August 2016 after winning the most votes in that year's election, 71,356 (39.1%). At 48, he was Iceland's youngest president. Roughly one month into his term, Guðni had approval ratings of 68.6% in an MMR survey, the highest approval rating this pollster has measured for an Icelandic president since its establishment in 2011. Early in his term, Guðni had to oversee negotiations to form a government in Iceland in the wake of the 2016 Icelandic parliamentary election on 29 October. These negotiations were difficult, as no pre-election coalition had a majority, and all possible majority coalitions had parties with highly divergent policy positions. In December 2016, Guðni had approval ratings of 97%. Such high approval ratings for Icelandic politicians are without precedent. In April 2019, his approval rating was 93.5% among those who took a position in a survey. Guðni attracted international attention in February 2017 when he jokingly vowed to ban pineapple as a pizza topping. In the 2020 presidential election, Guðni was re-elected with 92.2% of the vote. On 1 January 2024, Guðni announced in his New Year's address to the Icelandic people that he would not stand for election again in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Personal life

Religious beliefs

Guðni stands outside organized religion, but was raised in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

faith. He left the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

due to its delayed and muted response to reports of criminal abuses by priests. His credo is the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

, "human beings are born free, equal in dignity and rights. Humans are endowed with reason and conscience and should act in the spirit of brotherhood towards each other."

Family

Guðni is the son of the teacher and journalist Margrét Thorlacius and the physical education teacher and coach Jóhannes Sæmundsson. His father died of cancer at age 42. He has two brothers, Patrekur (a former Icelandic men's national handball team player, who is coach of the Austria men's national handball team and father of rapper JóiPé) and Jóhannes, who is a

systems analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...

. Guðni married

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Eliza Jean Reid in 2004 and they have four children. The couple, who met while studying in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, moved to Iceland in 2003. Reid became First Lady of Iceland when her husband was sworn into office. Guðni also has a daughter from a previous marriage.

Publications

Guðni has authored numerous books on historical topics. On 1 September 2022, he presented a book about the Icelandic

with the

, ''Stund milli stríða. Saga landhelgismálsins, 1961–1971'' (A Lull in the Cod Wars. Iceland and its Territorial Waters 1961–1971) on the 50th anniversary of the 1972 skirmish. A selection of other important books published by Guðni: * ''Gunnar Thoroddsen – Ævisaga'', (a biography of a former prime minister of Iceland,

), 2010
Bókabúð Forlagið
* ''Hrunið: Ísland á barmi gjaldþrots og upplausnar'', The Collapse: Iceland on the Verge of Bankruptcy and Dissolution, (a book about the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

), 2009
Bókabúð Forlagið
* ''Óvinir Ríksins'', Enemies of the State, (a book about secret observation of supposed threats to inner security after Iceland joined

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

in 1949 and the U.S. established an air base near Keflavík in 1951), 2006
Bókabúð Forlagið
The book was nominated for the Icelandic Book Prize 2006.

Honours

National Honours

* : **

ISL Icelandic Order of the Falcon - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Master and Grand Cross with Collar of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

(1 August 2016)

Foreign Honours

* : **

Knight of the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in ...

(24 January 2017). * : ** FIN Order of the White Rose Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (31 May 2017). * : ** GER Bundesverdienstkreuz 9 Sond des Grosskreuzes

Grand Cross Special Class of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(12 June 2019) * : ** Commander Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of the Three Stars (16 November 2018). * : ** St Olavs Orden storkors stripe

Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (21 March 2017). * : ** Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar

Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (17 January 2018). ** Recipient of the Commemorative Golden Jubilee Medal of His Majesty The King (15 September 2023).

Ancestry

Guðni is distantly related to former US president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

: they are 24th cousins 8 times removed. The connection is through Obama's Scottish ancestry. Guðni also shares ancestry with US president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

through their descent from Haakon V of Norway.

Bibliography

* Kári í jötunmóð. ''Saga Íslenskrar erfðagreiningar og Kára Stefánssonar'' (Reykjavík: Nýja bókafélagið, 1999). * Völundarhús valdsins. ''Stjórnarmyndanir, stjórnarslit og staða forseta Íslands í embættistíð Kristjáns Eldjárns, 1968–1980'' (Reykjavík: Mál og menning, 2005). * Óvinir ríkisins. ''Ógnir og innra öryggi í kalda stríðinu á Íslandi'' (Reykjavík: Mál og menning, 2006). * Þorskastríðin þrjú. ''Saga landhelgismálsins 1948–1976'' (Reykjavík: Hafréttarstofnun Íslands, 2006). * Hrunið. ''Ísland á barmi gjaldþrots og upplausnar'' (Reykjavík: JPV, 2009) * Gunnar Thoroddsen. ''Ævisaga''. (Reykjavík: JPV, 2010) * ''Fyrstu forsetarnir.'' (Reykjavík: Sögufélag, 2016) Guðni has translated four Stephen King books into Icelandic.

References