Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir (born 4 October 1973) is an Icelandic politician and lawmaker who has served as the Minister of Tourism, Trade and Culture from November 2021 to December 2024. As 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 ...

(Iceland's parliament) for the Reykjavík South constituency since 2016, she previously served as the Minister of Education, Science and Culture from 2017 to 2021 and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 2016 to 2017. During his time as Minister of Education, polling showed her as the minister with the most favorability at nearly 68%.

Career

Alfreðsdóttir was born on 4 October 1973 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 ...

. She is the daughter of politician Alfred Þorsteinsson, a longtime member of the Progressive Party and city councillor, and Guðný Kristjánsdóttir. From 2013 to 2014 she was the president of the

student association A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organization ...

, Framtíðin, of her secondary school

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR; official name in English: Reykjavik College) is collegein Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains one of the oldest ...

. In 1998 she graduated with her

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 political science 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 then for a year she did exchange studies in macroeconomics and philosophy at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. In 2001 she graduated with her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in international economics from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Lilja has worked for the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

, the Icelandic Central Bank and was an economic advisor to

Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (; born 12 March 1975) is an Icelandic politician who was the prime minister of Iceland from May 2013 until April 2016. He was also chairman of the Progressive Party from 2009 to October 2016. He was elected to t ...

during his time as prime minister. Lilja was the

in Sigurður Ingi Jóhannson's cabinet from 2016 to 2017, and has been the deputy chairperson of the Progressive Party since 2016. She has criticised

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

for having too few films and programmes with Icelandic subtitles or dubbed in Icelandic. In 2021, she wrote to

Tim Cook Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who is the current chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Cook had previously been the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs. Cook joined ...

, CEO of

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

, asking him to help maintain Icelandic as a language by including it in the voice, text and language collection in their operating systems.

References

1973 births Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Female defence ministers Female foreign ministers Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Living people Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir Lilja Dogg Alfredsdottir {{Iceland-politician-stub