Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, and fiancee Dorrit Moussaieff

Publisert 23.08.2001 13:49

His parents were Mr. Grimur Kristgeirsson, barber and town councillor in Isafjordur and Mrs. Svanhildur Olafsdottir Hjartar, housewife. He was raised in Isafjordur and also by his grandparents in Tingeyri.

He was elected the fifth President of the Republic of Iceland in June 1996 to a four-year term and was re-elected in 2000.

Family

He was married to Mrs. Gudrun Katrin Thorbergsdottir from 1974 until she passed away on 12th of October 1998. Their twin daughters, Gudrun Tinna and Svanhildur Dalla, were born in 1975.

In May last year he announced his engagement to Dorrit Moussaieff (50), Egyptian-born British jewellery designer and journalist.

Mr. Grímsson has a Ph.D. degree in political science at Manchester University (1970) He was a professor at the University of Iceland, served as Member of Althingi, the parliament, was Minister of Finance 1988 to 1991 and served as chairman of the People's Alliance Party.

Political career

His involvement in politics began at an early age. He sat on the board of the Progressive Party's Youth Federation in the years 1966-1973 and was on the executive board of the Progressive Party from 1971-1973.

He first stood for Parliament (Althingi) on behalf of the Liberal and Left Alliance in 1974. He was chairman of the executive board of the Liberal and Left Alliance from 1974-1975.

From 1978 to 1983 he was Parliament representative of Reykjavik for the Peoples' Alliance Party and was chairman of the party’s parliamentary group 1980-1983. He was Minister of Finance 1988-1991. He was re-elected to the Althingi representing the Peoples' Alliance Party in Reykjanes in 1991 and again in 1995.

In 198, he was elected leader of the Peoples' Alliance Party, a position which he relinquished at the party's national convention in autumn 1995.

He has been a member and chairman of various public bodies and associations, both Icelandic and international. He was chairman and later International president of the International Association Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), an association of over 1,800 parliamentarians in about 80 countries and sat on the board since.

The association organised the "Six Nations Peace Initiative". Mr Grímsson accepted the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize on behalf of the association in 1987 and has himself received international prizes.

Mr. Grímsson has made numerous visits to the United States and Canada after taking office as President of Iceland.

Ms. Dorrit Moussaieff

50 years old, the Egyptian-born British jewellery designer and journalist Dorrit Moussaieff has been engaged to Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland, since May 2000.