Salome Þorkelsdóttir, sometimes transliterated as Salome Thorkelsdottir, (born 3 July 1927) is a retired Icelandic politician and first woman to be Speaker of the unicameral Althing. Before that she had been Speaker of the Upper House of the Althing. She was of the Independence Party.

Biography

Salome Þorkelsdóttir was born on 3 July 1927, in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Iceland to Þorkell Sigurðsson and Anna Þorbjörg Sigurðardóttir. She attended the

Reykjavik Women's Gymnasium The Women's Junior College in Reykjavik ( Icelandic: Kvennaskólinn í Reykjavík) is the first junior college for women in Iceland. It was founded in 1874 by Þóra Melsteð and Páll Melsteð, as a private school. For the first four years the s ...

graduating in 1945. In 1947, she married Jóel Kristinn Jóelsson (2 January 1921–16 June 2007) and subsequently, they had three children. After raising her children, Salome served on the council of the Mosfellshrepps (Moss District) from 1966-1982. During this same period, she served as Chairwoman of the Federation of Municipalities in

Reykjanesbær Reykjanesbær () is a municipality on the Southern Peninsula (''Suðurnes'') in Iceland, though the name is also used by locals to refer to the suburban region of Keflavík and Njarðvík which have grown together over the years. The municipality ...

from 1975 to 1979 and was Chairwoman of the Independence Party's Representatives for the County of Kjósarsýsla (which is now Reykjavík) between 1972 and 1980. She was elected to the

Alþingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...

as a Member of Parliament representing Reyknesinga in 1979 and served until 1983, when she was re-elected as an Independence Party candidate. With her reelection in 1983, she became Speaker of the Upper House of the Althing. She served as the first Vice President of the United Assembly from 1988 to 1991 and in 1991, Salome became the first woman to be Speaker of the unicameral Althing, serving in that capacity until 1995. During her time as speaker, she oversaw discussions concerning the formalization of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

in 1993 as well as the reorganization and procedural realignments of the Alþingi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorkelsdottir, Salome 1927 births Living people Salome Thorkelsdottir Salome Thorkelsdottir Salome Thorkelsdottir Salome Thorkelsdottir Salome Thorkelsdottir