Minister for Foreign Affairs (Iceland)

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland
Utanríkisráðherra
Coat of arms of Iceland
Incumbent Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir since 9 April 2024
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Member of	Cabinet of Iceland
Reports to	Prime Minister
Appointer	Prime Minister
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Iceland
Formation	18 November 1941 (1941-11-18)
First holder	Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Icelandic: Utanríkisráðherra) is the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir.

List of ministers

Minister for Foreign Affairs (18 November 1941 – 1 January 1970)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term			Political party	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson (1894–1980)	18 November 1941	17 January 1942	60 days	Social Democratic	Jónasson IV
No minister in office between 17 January 1942 and 16 May 1942.
2		Ólafur Thors (1892–1964)	16 May 1942	16 December 1942	214 days	Independence	Thors I
3		Vilhjálmur Þór (1899–1972)	16 December 1942	21 October 1944	1 year, 310 days	Independent	Þórðarson
(2)		Ólafur Thors (1892–1964)	21 October 1944	4 February 1947	2 years, 106 days	Independence	Thors II
4		Bjarni Benediktsson (1908–1970)	4 February 1947	11 September 1953	6 years, 219 days	Independence	Stefánsson Thors III Steinþórsson
5		Kristinn Guðmundsson (1897–1982)	11 September 1953	24 July 1956	2 years, 317 days	Progressive	Thors IV
6		Guðmundur Ívarsson Guðmundsson (1909–1987)	24 July 1956	3 August 1956	10 days	Social Democratic	Jónasson V
7		Emil Jónsson (1902–1986)	3 August 1956	17 October 1956	75 days	Social Democratic	Jónasson V
(6)		Guðmundur Ívarsson Guðmundsson (1909–1987)	17 October 1956	31 August 1965	8 years, 318 days	Social Democratic	Jónasson V Jónsson Thors V Benediktsson
(7)		Emil Jónsson (1902–1986)	31 August 1965	1 January 1970	4 years, 123 days	Social Democratic	Benediktsson

Minister for Foreign Affairs (1 January 1970 – present)

The Cabinet of Iceland Act no. 73/1969, which had been passed by the parliament 28 May 1969, took effect on 1 January 1970. Thus the Cabinet was formally established along with its ministries which had up until then not formally existed separately from the ministers.

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term			Political party	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
(7)		Emil Jónsson (1902–1986)	1 January 1970	14 July 1971	1 year, 194 days	Social Democratic	Benediktsson Hafstein
8		Einar Ágústsson (1922–1986)	14 July 1971	1 September 1978	7 years, 49 days	Progressive	Jóhannesson I Hallgrímsson
9		Benedikt Gröndal (1924–2010)	1 September 1978	8 February 1980	1 year, 160 days	Social Democratic	Jóhannesson II Gröndal
10		Ólafur Jóhannesson (1913–1984)	8 February 1980	26 May 1983	3 years, 107 days	Progressive	Thoroddsen
11		Geir Hallgrímsson (1925–1990)	26 May 1983	24 January 1986	2 years, 243 days	Independence	Hermannsson I
12		Matthías Árni Mathiesen (1931–2011)	24 January 1986	8 July 1987	1 year, 165 days	Independence	Hermannsson I
13		Steingrímur Hermannsson (1928–2010)	8 July 1987	28 September 1988	1 year, 82 days	Progressive	Pálsson
14		Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson (born 1939)	28 September 1988	23 April 1995	6 years, 207 days	Social Democratic	Hermannsson II–III Oddsson I
15		Halldór Ásgrímsson (1947–2015)	23 April 1995	15 September 2004	9 years, 145 days	Progressive	Oddsson II–III–IV
16		Davíð Oddsson (born 1948)	15 September 2004	27 September 2005	1 year, 12 days	Independence	Ásgrímsson
17		Geir Haarde (born 1951)	27 September 2005	15 June 2006	261 days	Independence	Ásgrímsson
18		Valgerður Sverrisdóttir (born 1950)	15 June 2006	24 May 2007	343 days	Progressive	Haarde I
19		Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir (born 1954)	24 May 2007	1 February 2009	1 year, 253 days	Social Democratic	Haarde II
20		Össur Skarphéðinsson (born 1953)	1 February 2009	23 May 2013	4 years, 111 days	Social Democratic	Sigurðardóttir I–II
21		Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson (born 1968)	23 May 2013	7 April 2016	2 years, 320 days	Progressive	Gunnlaugsson
22		Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir (born 1973)	7 April 2016	11 January 2017	279 days	Progressive	Jóhannsson
23		Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson (born 1967)	11 January 2017	28 November 2021	4 years, 321 days	Independence	Benediktsson I Jakobsdóttir
24		Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir (born 1987)	28 November 2021	14 October 2023	1 year, 320 days	Independence	Jakobsdóttir II
25		Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1970)	14 October 2023	9 April 2024	178 days	Independence	Jakobsdóttir II
(24)		Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir (born 1987)	9 April 2024	Incumbent	235 days	Independence	Benediktsson II

External links

• Official website (in English)
• Official website (in Icelandic)