Davíð Oddsson
| Davíð Oddsson | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Prime Minister of Iceland | |
|
In office 30 April 1991 – 15 September 2004 |
|
| President |
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson |
| Preceded by | Steingrímur Hermannsson |
| Succeeded by | Halldór Ásgrímsson |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
|
In office 15 September 2004 – 27 September 2005 |
|
| Prime Minister | Halldór Ásgrímsson |
| Preceded by | Halldór Ásgrímsson |
| Succeeded by | Geir Haarde |
| Mayor of Reykjavik | |
|
In office 27 May 1982 – 16 July 1991 |
|
| Preceded by | Egill Skúli Ingibergsson |
| Succeeded by | Markús Örn Antonsson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
17 January 1948 Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Political party | Independence Party |
| Alma mater | University of Iceland |
Davíð Oddsson (pronounced [ˈtaːvið ˈɔtːsɔn]; born 17 January 1948) is an Icelandic politician, and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Iceland, holding office from 1991 to 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he served as Foreign Minister. Previously, he was Mayor of Reykjavík from 1982 to 1991, and he chaired the board of governors of the Central Bank of Iceland from 2005 to 2009. The collapse of Iceland's banking system led to vocal demands for his resignation both by members of the Icelandic public and by the new Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, which resulted in him being replaced as head of the Central Bank in March 2009. In September 2009 he was hired as the editor of Morgunblaðið, one of Iceland's largest newspapers, a decision that caused nationwide controversy and was followed by resignations and widespread terminated subscriptions. He contested the election for President of Iceland on 25 June 2016 and lost to Gudni Johannesson.
Davíð Oddsson was born in Reykjavík. His father was a medical doctor, and his mother a secretary. His parents were not married, and he was brought up in his maternal grandfather’s home in Selfoss until his grandfather died. He then moved with his mother and grandmother to Reykjavík. Oddsson is a descendant of Hans Jonatan, a mulatto slave from the Danish West Indies who escaped to Iceland in 1805.
He took an early interest in acting and attended an acting school for a while. He also attended the gymnasium Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík where he graduated in the spring of 1970. Davíð married Ástríður Thorarensen, a nurse; they have one son, Þorsteinn who is a judge at the district court at Akureyri. The next six years, Davíð read law at the University of Iceland, working almost full-time as well. He was assistant to the director of a small theatre (now the Borgarleikhúsið) for a while, and produced, with two friends (Þórarinn Eldjárn and Hrafn Gunnlaugsson), a popular radio comedy show for two years; he was for a while a political commentator at the newspaper Morgunblaðið, and the director of publication of Almenna bókafélagið, a conservative publishing house. He had been elected to the Municipal Council in Reykjavík in 1974, for the Independence Party.
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