Guðrún Björnsdóttir
Guðrún Björnsdóttir | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Reykjavík City Council | |
| In office 1908–1914 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 November 1853 Eyjólfsstaðir plains, Eastern Iceland |
| Died | 11 September 1936 Reykjavík, Iceland |
Guðrún Björnsdóttir was an Icelandic politician and women's rights activist. She was a founder of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association.
Early life and family
Guðrún Björnsdóttir was born at Eyjólfsstaðir plains on 27 November 1853.[1][2][3] At the age of 10, her father left her while she was still growing up.[1]
She was then sent to Eskifjörður for foster care, but she was soon moved to Langanes to live with her uncle.[1] For a brief period she lived in Copenhagen, but after awhile returned to her relatives in Langanes.[1]
In 1884, she married Lárus Jóhannesson, and in Sauðanes they raised four daughters.[1][2] After only four years of marriage, Guðrún's husband died,[1] and she became a widow.[1][2]
Until she moved with her daughters to Reykjavík in 1900, Guðrún was staying with her brother in Norður-Þingeyjarsýsla.[1] There, in Reykjavík, she sold milk to support her family.[1][4] She also began writing articles in the papers about milk sales and personal hygiene.[4]
Political career
Guðrún was an early advocate for women's rights in the 20th century and was a founder of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association. She was one of the first women elected to Reykjavík City Council[5] in what was said to be one of the first organized electoral campaigns in Iceland.[5][6] Alongside her in City Council were three other newly elected women; Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir, Þórunn Jónassen, and Katrín Magnússon.
Guðrún sat in the town council in 1908 to 1914.[1][4] While in office she mainly focused on health and educational issues. In particular, she sought gender equality by promoting women's education. Guðrún helped to see the establishment of a Women's Student Scholarship Fund.
Death and legacy
On 11 September 1936, Guðrún had died.
A memorial about her, which appeared in Morgunbladid on September 18, 1936, wrote about her:
With Mrs. Guðrún, she fell into being a chosen woman, who was at once both magnificent in an old style and one of the early pioneers of the new women rights for the country.[2]
On November 2010, the Reykjavík City Council announced Sætún would be renamed Guðrúnartún in honor of Guðrún Björnsdóttir.[7][8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Kvennasögusafn Íslands - Guðrún Björnsdóttir". kvennasogusafn.is. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
- ^ a b c d "Minningarorð um frú Guðrúnu Björnsdóttur". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 18 September 1936. p. 7. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ Gíslason, Þorsteinn, ed. (1909). Óðinn (in Icelandic). Reykjavík: Prentsmiðjan Gutenberg. p. 13. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|lay-date=ignored (help) - ^ a b c "Guðrún Björnsdóttir". Konur og stjórnmál. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
- ^ a b Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands-. "Timarit.is". timarit.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2019-07-10.
- ^ "Atburðir". Konur og stjórnmál. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
- ^ "Bríetartún, Katrínartún, Guðrúnartún og Þórunnartún eru ný götuheiti í Reykjavík _ Reykjavíkurborg". reykjavik.is (in Icelandic).
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Frétt Pressunnar af ákvörðun Skipulagsráðs, sótt 23. nóvember 2010.