Guðrún Katrín Þorbergsdóttir (; 14 August 1934 – 12 October 1998) was the First Lady of

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 ...

from 1996 to 1998. She was the first wife of Icelandic president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Guðrún Katrín studied

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. She was the General Manager of the Postal Workers Union for nearly 20 years, and managed a clothing store in downtown Reykjavík. She was also active in

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and held a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

post in the town of Seltjarnarnes for 16 years. She married Ólafur in 1974 and the following year gave birth to

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

daughters, Guðrún Tinna and Svanhildur Dalla. Guðrún Katrín was very popular in Iceland, and her charm and

charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ''chari ...

are considered by many as one of the main reasons her husband was elected president of Iceland in June 1996. Guðrún Katrín was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

in September 1997. She spent the last few months of her life under the care of specialists in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, with her family by her side, until her death in October 1998. Her death after a long and difficult struggle, at the age of 64, was a shock to her family and the Icelandic nation.

References

External links

Guðrún Katrín Þorbergsdóttir - biography (archived copy)
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gudrun Katrin Thorbergsdottir Thorbergsdottir, Gudrun Katrin Thorbergsdottir, Gudrun Katrin Guðrún Katrín Þorbergsdóttir Deaths from leukemia in Washington (state)