Finnbogadóttir, Vigdís (1930—)

President of Iceland . Name variations: Vigdis Finnbogadottir. Born on April 15, 1930, in Reykjavik, Iceland; daughter of Finnbogi Rutur (also seen as Ruter) Thorvaldsson (a civil engineer and professor at the University of Iceland) and Sigridur Eriksdóttir (a nurse and chair of the Icelandic Nurses Association for 36 years); graduated from University of Iceland; attended University of Grenoble and the Sorbonne; married in 1953 (divorced, c. 1962); children: (adopted daughter) Astridur.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who was elected president of Iceland in 1980, was born in 1930, the daughter of Finnbogi Thorvaldsson, a wealthy engineer, and Sigridur Eriksdóttir , a nurse. (First names are commonly used in Iceland, since surnames—a combination of the father's first name and the suffix dóttir [daughter] or sson [son]—are usually lengthy and complex.) Vigdís studied theater history in college before her marriage in 1953. She divorced nine years later and returned to Iceland where she hosted a television series about theater and, from 1972 to 1980, directed the Reykjavik Theatre Company. In 1974, she became interested in politics, when she helped organize a petition campaign for the removal of the U.S. naval base at Keflavik. Her run for the presidency was the result of a dare, and Vigdís attributed her victory to her country's growing awareness of women's issues. Reelected in 1984 and 1988, she used the largely ceremonial post to promote Icelandic culture and to better the status of women.