- Halldór Ásgrímsson
Infobox Prime Minister
name=Halldór Ásgrímsson
| order=Prime Minister of Iceland
term_start =September 15 ,2004
term_end =June 15 ,2006
president =Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
predecessor =Davíð Oddsson
successor =Geir Haarde
office2 = Secretary General for the Nordic Council of Ministers
term_start2 =1 January 2007
term_end2 =
predecessor2 =Per Unckel
successor2 =
birth_date =Birth date and age|1947|9|8|mf=y
birth_place =Vopnafjörður ,Iceland
party=Progressive Party
spouse=Sigurjóna Sigurðardóttir
Religion=Lutheran |Halldór Ásgrímsson (IPA2|ˈhaltour ˈauːskrimˌsɔn) (born
September 8 ,1947 ) was Prime Minister ofIceland from 2004 to 2006 and leader of the Progressive Party from 1994 to 2006.Education and early life
Halldór earned a bachelor's degree from the Co-operative College of Iceland, and became a certified public accountant in 1970. He later completed graduate commerce studies at the Universities of Bergen and Copenhagen, and worked as a lecturer at the
University of Iceland from 1973 to 1975.Political career
He represented the East constituency as a member of the
Alþingi (Icelandic Parliament) from 1974 to 1978 and from 1979 to 2003, when he was elected to represent theReykjavík North constituency. Over the years, he has served in a large number of ministerial portfolios, namely as Minister for Fisheries from 1983 to 1991, Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs from 1988 to 1989, Minister for Nordic Co-operation from 1985 to 1987 and 1995 to 1999 andMinister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2004.Halldór took over as Prime Minister on
September 15 2004 , succeeding Independence Party leaderDavíð Oddsson , while Davíð replaced Halldór as Foreign Minister.On
June 5 2006 , following poor results in municipal elections, Halldór announced his resignation as Prime Minister and stated that he intended to step down as leader of the Progressive Party in August 2006.Geir H. Haarde , the Foreign Minister of Iceland, succeeded him onJune 15 2006 . Geir is the present leader of the Independence Party, which is in a coalition government with the Progressive Party. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5050768.stm]Halldór Ásgrímsson's successor as Progressive Party leader was Jón Sigurðsson, Minister of Industry and Commerce, who was elected at the party's convention in August 2006. At the convention Halldór ended his political career with an emotional and dynamic farewell speech to the party. Halldór resigned as MP after the convention; he was the longest serving MP at the time.
On
October 31 2006 , Halldór was chosen as the Secretary-General of theNordic Council of Ministers .Halldór Ásgrímsson is an Honorary Member of [http://www.raoulwallenberg.net The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation] .
External links
*en icon [http://eng.forsaetisraduneyti.is/minister/Speeches_HA/nr/234 Halldór´s biography in English (since his tenure as PM)]
* [http://www.norden.org Nordic Council of Ministers]
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