- Bjarni Benediktsson
Infobox_Prime Minister | name= Bjarni Benediktsson
order=Prime Minister of Iceland
term_start=November 14 ,1963
term_end=July 10 ,1970
president =Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
birth_date = birth date|1908|4|30|mf=y
death_date = death date and age|1970|7|10|1908|4|30|mf=y
predecessor=Ólafur Thors
successor=Jóhann Hafstein
party=Independence PartyBjarni Benediktsson (
April 30 1908 –July 10 1970 ) was Prime Minister ofIceland from14 November 1963 to10 July 1970 . His father, Benedikt Sveinsson (1877-1954), was a leader in the independence movement in Iceland and a member of Althingi from 1908 to 1931.Bjarni studied constitutional law and became professor at the
University of Iceland at the age of only 24. He was elected to the city council in Reykjavík in 1934 as a member of the Independence Party and from 1940 to 1947 was mayor of the city.In 1947 he became Foreign Minister and served in various posts in cabinets until 1956. His tenure included the establishment of Iceland as a founding member of
NATO in 1949. In 1956, when the left-wing parties formed a coalition government, Bjarni, out of office, became editor of "Morgunblaðið ", a leading conservative newspaper.In 1959, when the Independence Party formed a coalition government with the Social Democrats, Bjarni became
Minister of Justice . Two years later he was elected chairman of the Independence Party and in 1963 he took over fromÓlafur Thors as Prime Minister. He served in this position until his tragic death, which was caused by a fire at a government summer house at Thingvellir; his wife and grandson also perished in the blaze.Bjarni was the father of
Björn Bjarnason and the father-in-law ofVilmundur Gylfason .External links
* [http://althingi.is/cv.php4?nfaerslunr=64 CV from Althingi] is icon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
