Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (20 July 1894 – 20 October 1980) was the first actual

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, ...

in Iceland from 18 November 1941 to 17 January 1942. He was

prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland () is head of government of the Republic of Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president of Iceland, president and exercises executive authority along with the Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet subje ...

from 4 February 1947 to 6 December 1949. He was first elected to 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 ...

in 1934 but did not get reelected in 1937. From 1942 to 1953, he regained his seat in the

. He was chairman of the now defunct

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(''Alþýðuflokkurinn'') from 1938 to 1952. He was ambassador of Iceland in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

from 1957 to 1965. He was minister for social affairs from 1939 to 1941 and Minister of Foreign and Social Affairs from 1941 to 1942. He was Prime-Minister when Iceland joined NATO in 1949; leading a coalition consisting of his own

together with the Independence Party and Progressive Party. He was born in Dagverðareyri, Iceland, to Stefán Ágúst Oddsson and Ólöf Árnadóttir. Stefán gained his degree in Law in 1922. He was Social Affairs Minister in 1939 and Secretary of State in 1940–1942. Stefán died in a hospital 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 ...

on 20 October 1980.

References

External links

CV in Icelandic
Stefansson, Stefan Johann Stefansson, Stefan Johann Prime ministers of Iceland Social affairs ministers of Iceland Ambassadors of Iceland to Denmark Ambassadors of Iceland to Turkey Icelandic anti-communists Members of the Althing Social Democratic Party (Iceland) politicians {{Iceland-politician-stub