Jónína Leósdóttir (born 16 May 1954) is an Icelandic novelist, playwright, former journalist and spouse of former Prime Minister of Iceland Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (2009-2013). She is the author of a dozen plays, eleven novels, two biographies and a collection of articles she originally wrote for a women's magazine. Her books have been translated into several languages. She is married to the former Icelandic Prime Minister

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (; born 4 October 1942) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2009 to 2013. Elected as an MP from 1978 to 2013, she was appointed as Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social ...

, who was the first openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

head of government in modern history. They were one of the first same-sex couples in Iceland to get married (in 2010, shortly after the law took effect, and while Jóhanna was in office); and until 2015, Jónína was the only modern person to have been the same-sex spouse of a sitting head of government (

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Elio Di Rupo Elio Di Rupo (; born 18 July 1951) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2011 to 2014, heading the Di Rupo Government, and as minister-president of Wallonia for three non-consecutive terms between 1999 and 20 ...

has never been married, while

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourgish lawyer and politician who serves as the List of deputy prime ministers of Luxembourg, deputy prime minister of Luxembourg and as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Luxembourg), minister for Fo ...

was unable to legally marry until 1 January 2015). The pair met in 1983. Jónina published the biography of Rósa Ingólfsdóttir in 1992. Her book, ''Sundur og saman'' (''Back and Forth'') appeared in 1993. The book was about a child whose parents divorced. She has now written a book about her relationship with the former prime minister. She has a BA in English and Literature 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 ...

, and has worked at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

References

External links

Jónína Leósdóttir's personal webpageJónína Leósdóttir's page on the website of the Icelandic Association of Playwrights and ScreenwritersJónína Leósdóttir's page on Literature.is, a website containing information about contemporary Icelandic authors and their work
*
Jónína Leósdóttir on ''Outlook''

Jónína Leósdóttir on ''Woman's Hour''

Jónína Leósdóttir interview in ''The Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leosdottir, Jonina 1954 births Jonina Leosdottir 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir 21st-century dramatists and playwrights Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir Living people Jonina Leosdottir Jonina Leosdottir Lesbian dramatists and playwrights Lesbian journalists Lesbian novelists Jonina Leosdottir