Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason (14 December 1867 – 30 October 1941) was an Icelandic politician,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

, schoolteacher and gymnast. She was the first woman to become a member of the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

, the parliament of Iceland.

Early life and education

Ingibjörg was born in Thingeyri, Iceland, in 1867 to Hakon Bjarnason and Johanna Kristin Þorleifsdóttir, and was one of five children. As a teenager, she moved to

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 ...

after her father died and attended Kvennaskólinn (the Reykjavík Women's College). She graduated from the college in 1882 and relocated to Denmark to study

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, making her the first Icelander to do so. She returned to Reykjavík in 1893 to teach gymnastics at a children's school, and in 1903 she returned to the Women's College as a teacher. She became the school principal in 1906 and held the position for 35 years until her death.

Political career

She first became involved in the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

movement in Iceland in 1894. In 1915, when Icelandic women won the right to vote, Ingibjörg was chosen by a women's organisation to address parliament and present a celebratory speech, and was elected the head of a committee which raised funds to build a hospital,

Landspítali The Landspítali – The National University Hospital of Iceland () offers a wide range of clinical services in outpatient clinics, day patient units, inpatient wards, clinical laboratories and other divisions. Landspítalinn also operates the psy ...

(the National University Hospital) to commemorate the suffragists' win. She led the Women's Slate, a precursor to the feminist

Women's List The Women's List or Women's Alliance (), also called Kvennalistinn and abbreviated KL, was a feminist political party in Iceland that took part in national politics from 1983 to 1999. The party held three seats in the parliament elected in 1983, ...

political party, and in 1922 was elected to the

. She thereby became the first woman to sit in the Icelandic parliament. She initially ran as an independent member, but in 1924 she joined the Conservative Party and stayed in office as a Conservative member until 1927. In her political career, she promoted women's and children's rights, although she never married or had children.

Career after politics

After retiring from politics, she remained active in the Icelandic

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

, and in 1930 she became the founding chairperson of the women's organisation Kvenfélagasambands Íslands. However, she faced criticism for some women for her alignment with the Conservative Party, for supporting causes such as the establishment of a

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

school, and for suggesting that Icelandic women had achieved full equality when they received the right to vote in 1915. She also served on the

Landsbanki Landsbanki (, ), also commonly known as Landsbankinn (, ) was one of the largest Icelandic commercial banks; it failed as part of the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis when its subsidiary sparked the Icesave dispute. On October 7, 2008, t ...

committee from 1928 to 1932, and was part of the Icelandic Education Council from 1928 to 1934. She died in October 1941.

Legacy

In November 2011, 70 years after Ingibjörg's death, it was announced that a vote had passed in the

Reykjavík City Council The Reykjavík City Council ( Icelandic: ''Borgarstjórn Reykjavíkur'') is the local council for Reykjavík, the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is composed of 23 members elected by proportional representation for a 4-year term The Cou ...

to construct a permanent memorial in Reykjavík in her honour. A celebration was held in the Althing in July 2012 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Ingibjörg's election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjarnason, Ingibjorg H. 1867 births 1941 deaths Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Women school principals and headteachers Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Ingibjorg H. Bjarnason Icelandic educators Icelandic women educators