Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈjouːhana ˈsɪːɣʏrðarˌtouhtɪr̥]; born 4 October 1942) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2009 to 2013. Elected as an MP from 1978 to 2013, she was appointed as Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security, serving from 1987 to 1994, and from 2007 until 2009. In 1994, when she lost a bid to head the Social Democratic Party, she raised her fist and declared "Minn tími mun koma!" ("My time will come!"), a phrase that became a popular Icelandic expression. Later in 1994, she left the party and formed her own party, National Awakening (Þjóðvaki), with her as leader. The party received 7.1% of the popular vote in the 1995 parliamentary election and four elected MPs. In 1996 all of the MPs joined the Social Democratic Party. In the 1999 election, National Awakening ran with the newly formed Social Democratic Alliance. In 2000 the party officially merged with the Social Democratic Alliance. Jóhanna became prime minister on 1 February 2009, in a minority cabinet formed after the previous coalition was dissolved following the 2008 Icelandic financial crisis. Her coalition received a majority in the 2009 parliamentary election. She became Iceland's first female prime minister and the world's first openly LGBT head of government in modern times. Forbes listed her among the 100 most powerful women in the world in 2009. She was a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for Reykjavík constituencies from 1978 to 2013, winning re-election on eight successive occasions. In September 2012, Jóhanna announced she would not seek re-election and retired from politics as then-Iceland's longest serving member of Parliament.