Guðrún Ögmundsdóttir

Guðrún Ögmundsdóttir (19 October 1950 – 31 December 2019) was an Icelandic politician for the Social Democratic Party and then the Social Democratic Alliance who was an elected member of the Althing representing the Reykjavík North constituency from 1999 to 2007. She also twice served on Reykjavík City Council and was a board member and later chair of UNICEF Iceland between 2016 and 2018. Guðrún had a biography on her written by Halla Gunnarsdóttir that was published in 2010 and she received the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon nine years later.

Biography On 19 October 1950, Guðrún was born in Reykjavík. She was adopted at birth by the Chief Foreman of the Lighthouse and Harbor Authority Ögmundur Jónsson and the housewife Jóhanna J. Guðjónsdóttir from her birth mother Hulda Valdimarsdóttir. Guðrún worked as a supervisor for Þjóðviljan's equality page from 1978 to 1979 and as a reporter at the Royal Danish Theatre in 1982. She would later complete her postgraduate studies at the same institution and earn a master's degree in media studies in 1985. She also held a multitude of confidential positions on behalf of Reykjavík City Council. She helped to come up with legislation that gave same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual people to adopt and to receive assisted insemination treatment from 27 June 2006. Guðrún also lobbied for women's freedom, women's rights and the rights of minorities. From 2011 to 2018, she was a board member and later between 2016 and 2018 chair of UNICEF Iceland. Guðrún gained re-election to Reykjavík City Council in 2017. A biography of Guðrún, Hjartað ræður för, was authored by Halla Gunnarsdóttir and published in 2010. On the morning of 31 December 2019, Guðrún died of cancer in the palliative department of the Landspítali in Kópavogur.

Legacy In September 2019, she was honoured by the NGO Samtökin '78 with its badge of honour "for her fight for the increased rights of gay people." A total of 11,430 signatures supporting a child violence prevention campaign were received by the Minister of Social Affairs and Children Ásmundur Einar Daðason on behalf of Guðrún's legacy.