Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1930 -     )

Icelandic politician, French teacher and artistic director

of the Reykjavík Theatre Company. In 1980, she ran for

President of Iceland to prove that women were able to lead

political campaigns. She faced a barrage of ignorant and

insulting questions and assumptions due to being female.

She did not expect to win, but she did.

First woman to serve as President of Iceland, she held that

position for 16 years (1980 - 1996). This made her the

first woman in the world to be democratically elected as

president of a country, as well as the longest serving

elected female head of state in history.