ICELAND:

PRESIDENT GRIMSSON

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson became the president of Iceland on August 1, 1996 succeeding Vigdis Finnbogadottir. The then 53-year- old professor of political science got 41.4 percent of the national vote. President Grimsson is a former leader of the leftist People’s Alliance Party.

Iceland was one of the first countries in the world to enfranchise women. It was also the first country in the world to democratically elect a female head of state in June 1980 when Vigdis Finnbogadottir became the fourth president of Iceland after defeating three male candidates. President Vigdis, as she was affectionately called, had no opponents when she was re-elected four years later. Then in 1988 she won her third term defeating female candidate Sigrun Thorsteinsdottir with a landslide 93% vote. This landslide discouraged any opponents in the election of 1992 when Vigdis was once again elected by acclaim.