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Benedikt Gröndal (born 1924)

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Benedikt Gröndal
21st Prime Minister of Iceland
In office
15 October 1979 – 8 February 1980
PresidentKristján Eldjárn
Preceded byÓlafur Jóhannesson
Succeeded byGunnar Thoroddsen
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
1 September 1978 – 8 February 1980
Prime MinisterÓlafur Jóhannesson
Himself
Preceded byEinar Ágústsson
Succeeded byÓlafur Jóhannesson
Personal details
Born(1924-07-07)7 July 1924
Önundarfjörður, Kingdom of Iceland
Died20 July 2010(2010-07-20) (aged 86)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Alma materHarvard University
University of Oxford

Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal (7 July 1924 – 20 July 2010) was Prime Minister of Iceland for the Social Democratic Party (Alþýðuflokkurinn) from 15 October 1979 to 8 February 1980. Prior to that he was Minister of Foreign Affairs 1978–1980. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs during his tenure as PM, therefore the only politician from the independence 1944 to serve in both cabinet positions at the same time.[1]

His government was the second Social Democrat minority government of Iceland, formed after the collapse of Ólafur Jóhannesson's cabinet, with Gröndal's cabinet only being formed as a temporary solution until the 1979 parliamentary election. His cabinet was defeated in the election and his party was not asked to form the next cabinet. Gröndal was a member of Althingi from 1956 to 1982 and led his party from 1974 to 1980. He attended the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1966.[2]

After leaving the political scene in 1982, Gröndal was appointed ambassador of Iceland to Sweden and Finland. After residing for some years in Stockholm, he served as roving ambassador to the Far East, including Australia, China, South Korea and Japan. After serving two years as representative to the United Nations, Benedikt Gröndal retired to his native home in 1991.[3] He died on 20 July 2010 at the age of 86.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ríkisstjórnartal". www.stjornarradid.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Alþingiskosningar 1979", Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið (in Icelandic), 2 October 2021, retrieved 15 August 2024
  3. ^ "Benedikt Gröndal". Alþingi (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Benedikt Gröndal látinn". RÚV. 20 July 2010.
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Iceland
1979–1980
Succeeded by