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Steingrímur J. Sigfússon

Steingrímur J. Sigfússon
Steingrímur J. Sigfússon norden-1.jpg
Speaker of the Althing
In office
29 October 2016 – 24 January 2017
President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson
Prime Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson
Bjarni Benediktsson
Preceded by Einar Kristinn Guðfinnsson
Succeeded by Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir
Minister of Finance
In office
1 February 2009 – 23 May 2013
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Preceded by Árni Mathiesen
Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture
In office
1 February 2009 – 10 May 2009
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
Preceded by Einar Kristinn Guðfinnsson
Succeeded by Jón Bjarnason
Minister of Agriculture and Communications
In office
28 September 1988 – 30 April 1991
Prime Minister Steingrímur Hermannsson
Preceded by Jón Helgason (as Minister of Agriculture)
Mattías Á. Mathiesen (as Minister of Communications)
Succeeded by Halldór Blöndal
Personal details
Born (1955-08-04) 4 August 1955 (age 61)
Gunnarsstaðir, Þistilfjörður
Political party Left-Green Movement
Spouse(s) Bergný Marvinsdóttir
Children Four children
Alma mater University of Iceland
Profession Geologist

Steingrímur Jóhann Sigfússon (born 4 August 1955) is an Icelandic politician. He has been a member of the Althing (Icelandic parliament) since 1983 and is the founding chairman of the Left-Green Movement (Vinstri hreyfingin – grænt framboð). He was the Minister for Agriculture and Communications from 1988–1991. He became Minister of Finance in 2009. In 2011 he took on the roles of Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture and Minister of Economic Affairs.

Steingrímur was born in Gunnarsstaðir, a large sheep farm between Garður and Þórshöfn in the Þistilfjörður region of northeast Iceland (Svalbarðshreppur municipality). In his younger days he was an avid sportsman, both track and field and also a volleyball player. On 16 January 2006, Steingrímur was injured in a car accident not far from Blönduós, Iceland but he later recovered.

He supported the end of the US military presence in Iceland, but believed Iceland itself should have taken the initiative in ending this presence. Since September 2006, when US forces left Naval Air Station Keflavik, he has strongly opposed any possible development of an Icelandic army seeing the country's need for armed forces as practically non-existent. He believes that civilian institutions such as the police and the coast guard should be organized in order to provide the needed protection in the unlikely event of a major disturbance.

In November 2006, he published the book Við öll – Íslenskt velferðarsamfélag á tímamótum ("All of Us – Icelandic Welfare Society at Crossroads"), laying out his political ideology.


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