Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson (born 31 May 1992) is an

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 ...

ic politician, government minister and 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 ...

. A member of the

Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance (, ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Iceland, political party in Iceland. The party is positioned on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum and their ...

, he has represented Reykjavík South since November 2024. He previously represented Reykjavík North from September 2021 to November 2024. He has been Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate since December 2024.

Early life

Jóhann was born on 31 May 1992 in

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 ...

. He is the son of composer and violinist Bryndís Pálsdóttir. He grew up in the Laugarás neighbourhood of Reykjavík. He wanted to be a musician and studied the piano for ten years but had difficulty reading music. At the age of 12 he wrote a song titled which became a hit on the Internet and on radio. He performed at concerts, singing his own songs and playing the guitar. He was religious as a child but this stopped after he read the entire

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Jóhann graduated from Reykjavík High School (MR) in 2012. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, minoring in law, from 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 ...

(HÍ) in 2015. He has

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degrees in history from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

(2017) and in European political economy from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

(2020).

Career

Jóhann was a journalist at the '' DV'' (2012-2015) but resigned in January 2015 citing editorial interference by new owner Björn Ingi Hrafnsson who had links to the

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

Progressive Party. He worked for ''

Stundin ''Stundin'' was an Icelandic bi-weekly newspaper known for investigative journalism. It took the form of both an online newspaper and a news magazine. It was founded in 2015 by former staff of DV after a hostile takeover of the paper. It was fun ...

'', which had been founded by former journalists from ''DV'', from 2015 to 2019. He has won awards for his journalistic work including on Lekamálið (2014), sex offenders (2017) and Bjarni Benediktsson's involvement in the collapsed

Glitnir ''Forseti Seated in Judgment'' (1881) by Carl Emil Doepler Forseti (Old Norse "the presiding one", "president" in modern Icelandic and Faroese) is the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosit ...

bank (2018). Jóhann quit journalism after returning to Iceland from studying in the UK and entered politics, joining the

(Samfylkingin) in 2020. He worked as an advisor to the party's

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

. He was elected to the

at the 2021 parliamentary election. He was re-elected at the 2024 parliamentary election. Following the election Samfylkingin formed a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with

Viðreisn Viðreisn (), officially known in English as the Liberal Reform Party, is a Liberalism, liberal political party political parties in Iceland, in Iceland positioned on the Centrism, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right of the political spe ...

and the People's Party. Jóhann was appointed Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Kristrún Frostadóttir Kristrún Mjöll Frostadóttir (; born 12 May 1988) is an Icelandic politician and economist who has served as the prime minister of Iceland since December 2024, and is the current leader of the Social Democratic Alliance. She was elected to the ...

on 21 December 2024.

Personal life

Jóhann is married to chemist Anna Bergljót Gunnarsdóttir. Their daughter was born in January 2023.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jóhannsson, Jóhann Páll 1992 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson (born 31 May 1992) is an Icelandic politician, government minister and member of the Althing. A member of the Social Democratic Alliance, he has represented Reykjavík South (Althing constituency), Reykjavík South sinc ...

Living people