The best part? Wait for it…. Also, Fiann disputes the claim that one cannot be a master of all trades. Edgar Holger Cahill. Edgar, born Sveinn Kristjan Bjarnarsson in , was an Icelandic-born American arts administrator, writer and curator. He was quite imaginative and skilful. He thought how best to nurture arts, and then established community art centers in over cities and towns — insightful. Darri Ingolfsson. Darri is an actor popular for his role in Last Resort.
The best of his works remains playing the cunning Dr Saxton in Dexter — evil and refreshing! Arnaldur is a writer and journalist. He is a maestro at developing crime fictions. Mountains in Iceland Which mountains are the most beautiful mountains in Iceland, where are they located and what kind of mountains can you find in Iceland? Iceland is filled with interesting rock sculptures, lava form Other interesting articles. What is it that Icelanders hate most about tourism in Iceland?
Read more. Read on and learn about Icelandic Viking Age symbols, their mythol Where Did Icelanders Come From? How long has Iceland been inhabited? Who were the first Icelanders? Where did they come from? Continue reading to learn all about the history of the Icelandic people. Photo from Wikimedia, Creativ Top things to do in Iceland Book your complete trip with the best companies only Find the Northern lights. Explore an Ice cave. Go on a Road trip. Do the Golden circle.
Visit Reykjavik. Bathe in the Blue lagoon. See the Glacier lagoon. Discover the South coast. Type of travel. Saxton in the hit series Dexter that really put Darri on the map. Popular website Buzzfeed. Movie fans will soon be able to enjoy his talent even further in the film A Walk Among the Tombstones which also stars veteran actor Liam Neeson.
Before her inauguration there was wide-spread debate whether a woman, and a single mother at that, could handle the responsibilities that came with the position.
Icelanders are incredibly proud of their environment and incredibly protective over it. After marvelling at the beauty of the waterfall, it is great to be able to see and appreciate the unlikely figure who helped to save it. Gullfoss is a stop most visitors will get to; it is one of the three stops of the famous Golden Circle. Without a doubt, Laxness was one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. His works were extensive.
He wrote essays, poetry, theatre pieces and nonfiction texts. He is best known, however, for his novels. Within them, he perfectly captured the societal tensions of the 20th Century, caused by industrialisation, urbanisation, migration and the decreasing role of centuries old traditions. It was for these creations that he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Laxness's novels also paint a vivid picture of Iceland's nature. Perhaps his most esteemed work, however, was Independent People , published in two parts in and This novel covers the years up to, during, and after the First World War in Iceland, a period through which the country went from a rural, disconnected land, unchanged for centuries, to a modern nation with electricity and machinery.
The divides created by this quick and dramatic change are illustrated beautifully in this novel, written from the perspective of a croft farmer, just free from debt bondage, who will stop at nothing to achieve his independence.
This protagonist, Bjartur, is determined to the point of callous, but a fantastic representation of Icelanders of old. His struggles are also incredibly relatable, and the themes of independence, community, capitalism and cooperation resonate to this day.
Laxness died in , and in his lifetime, underwent many personal changes that reflected the world around him. He went from a devout Catholic to an ardent critic of Christianity; he changed from a supporter of capitalism to Soviet communism, then to a more gentle socialism, before dropping all doctrines but a loose interpretation of Taoism.
He was also caught in a conflict between traditional rural living and the appeal of a modern, convenient life. It includes a multimedia presentation telling of his life and works.
The modernisation of Iceland, as mentioned before, brought about great societal change for women. While female suffrage had been achieved decades earlier, however, women were still hugely underrepresented in the public sphere by the s. It was never, and still is not, in the nature of Icelandic women to wait patiently for justice, however. In the UN Year of Women , over 90 percent left work, be it paid or domestic, to demand better conditions in the streets of the capital.
Finally, in , a female-led movement pushed Iceland to be the first nation ever to directly and democratically elect a woman as Head of State. It should be noted that other women had been elected Prime Minister, but that made them the heads of their governments, not their states.
She was not what you would expect of a female leader in The fact that any woman won the presidency was dramatic; the fact that it was someone whose lifestyle was so contrary to what was customary shocked the world. She was also not just elected in the furore of the Year of Women. She was soundly reelected three times, serving in office for 16 years. She was popular throughout her terms and is still popular today.
Although the role of president in Iceland is largely ceremonial, she used her influence to great effect. She promoted causes such as the education and empowerment of girls, the funding and celebration of the arts, and the protection of Icelandic nature, and oversaw a slew of legislation that made these goals possible.
She also had a role in possibly the most defining event of the second half of the twentieth century; the end of the Cold War. While these talks did not result in any immediate arrangement, they showed that both sides were willing to meet, and what both sides were ready to concede on. This was the first major step towards the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
It was a very significant role for such a small country to play. Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Laurentgauthier. The current president works each day in this building, and it is telling of how safe and open Iceland is that it is unfenced and has very little security.
The final person on this list of the most famous Icelanders throughout the ages is the only one to make history in the 21st Century.
It became one of the first countries to recognise same-sex partnerships in , and granted the community full adoption rights in She lifted Iceland out of its post-crash slump and strengthened trade unions to protect workers. Her actions radically changed the neo-liberal politics that had reigned under the 18 years of the government of the Independence Party.
Her government passed marriage equality with a unanimous vote in parliament, and she and her partner became one of the first couples in Iceland to have an official same-sex union. Though only serving one term, she left the office of Prime Minister having changed the face of Iceland forever.
This is visited on most tours around the capital. As noted, there is no way to compile a list of famous historical Icelanders without leaving a few out. Here are some honourable mentions who just missed out on the list.
Furthermore, because of his works, Icelanders can trace back their family histories for centuries, often to the s. He only misses out on the list as his works do not have enormous international influence. Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, unknown author. Although the first central female protagonist of any Icelandic story, however, she did not change the country in the same way that later women did.
Hans Jonatan : Hans Jonatan was the first person of colour to settle in Iceland. Here, he escaped, joined the Danish Navy, and was celebrated for his role in the Napoleonic wars.
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