Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason was an Icelandic politician, suffragist, schoolteacher and gymnast.
Background
Ingibjörg was born in Thingeyri, Iceland, in 1867 to Hakon Bjarnason and Johanna Kristin Þorleifsdóttir, and was one of five children. As a teenager, she moved to Reykjavík after her father died and attended Kvennaskólinn (the Reykjavík Women"s College).
Education
She graduated from the college in 1882 and relocated to Denmark to study gymnastics, making her the first Icelander to do southern
Career
She returned to the Reykjavík in 1893 to teach gymnastics at a children"s school, and in 1903 she returned to the Women"s College as a teacher. She became the school principal in 1906 and held the position for 35 years until her death. She first became involved in the women"s suffrage movement in Iceland in 1894.
She thereby became the first woman to sit in the Icelandic parliament.
She initially ran as an independent member, but in 1924 she joined the Conservative Party and stayed in office as a Conservative member until 1927. After retiring from politics, she remained active in the Icelandic women"s liberation movement, and in 1930 she became the founding chairperson of the women"s organisation Kvenfélagasambands Íslands.
She also served on the Landsbanki committee from 1928 to 1932, and was part of the Icelandic Education Council from 1928 to 1934. She died in October 1941.
In November 2011, 70 years after Ingibjörg"s death, it was announced that a vote had passed in the Reykjavík City Council to construct a permanent memorial in Reykjavík in her honour.
A celebration was held in the Althing in July 2012 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Ingibjörg"s election.
Politics
She led the Women"s Slate, a precursor to the feminist Women"s List political party, and in 1922 was elected to the Althing.
Membership
She was the first woman to become a member of the Althing, the parliament of Iceland.