Álfheiður Ingadóttir

Álfheiður Ingadóttir (born 1 May 1951) is an Icelandic politician, a former member of the Althing for the Left-Green Movement, Deputy Speaker, and Minister of Health.

Early life and education Álfheiður was born in Reykjavík; her parents were Ingi R. Helgason, a lawyer of the Icelandic Supreme Court, and Ása Guðmundsdóttir. She was educated at Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík and earned a B.Sc. in biology from the University of Iceland in 1975, then studied German language and media at the Free University of Berlin in 1976–1977.

Career After teaching biology while a student, Álfheiður began her post-graduate career as a journalist at Þjóðviljinn, where she worked until 1987 and rose to news director. She then became manager of a salmon farm in Straumsvík. From 1989 to 1991 she worked on patent and trademark applications, and then returned to journalism free-lance until 1996. 1987–1989. Worked on patent applications and trademark registration 1989–1991. Freelance journalist 1991–1996. In 1994–1995 she was also the information officer of the Samtök um kvennaathvarf, a federation of women's shelters, and secretary general of the conference on women's shelters in the Nordic countries that was held in Iceland in November 1995. she has continued to serve as a deputy member for her party.

She served as Minister of Health from October 2009 to September 2010.

She played a role in the founding of the Left-Green Movement in 1998