Ambassador of Iceland to the United States
Ambassador of Iceland to United States
Sendiherra Íslands í Bandaríkjunum | |
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Inaugural holder | Thor Thors |
Formation | 23 October 1941 |
Until 1874, Iceland was a dependency of Denmark rather than an independent nation. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which again was expanded in 1904. In 1918, The Act of Union, an agreement between Denmark, recognised Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king. Iceland established its own flag and asked that Denmark represent its foreign affairs and defense interests. Thus the United States Ambassador to Denmark conducted foreign relations between the United States and Iceland.
German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. As a result, on 10 April the Parliament of Iceland elected to take control of foreign affairs into its own hands.
Following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on 17 June 1944.
List of ambassadors
# | Name | Appointment | Termination of mission |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Thor Thors | 23 October 1941 | 11 January 1965 |
2 | Pétur Thorsteinsson | 1 August 1965 | 1 October 1969 |
3 | Magnús V. Magnússon | 1 October 1969 | 4 April 1971 |
4 | Guðmundur Ívarsson Guðmundsson | 1 August 1971 | 2 March 1973 |
5 | Haraldur Kröyer | 2 March 1973 | 21 July 1976 |
6 | Hans Georg Andersen | 21 July 1976 | 24 November 1986 |
7 | Ingvi S. Ingvarsson | 24 November 1986 | 17 December 1990 |
8 | Tómas Á. Tómasson | 17 December 1990 | 9 December 1993 |
9 | Einar Benediktsson | 9 December 1993 | 21 November 1997 |
10 | Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson | 16 March 1998 | 9 December 2002 |
11 | Helgi Ágústsson | 9 December 2002 | 8 December 2006 |
12 | Albert Jónsson | 8 December 2006 | 8 January 2009 |
13 | Hjálmar W. Hannesson | 8 January 2009 | 1 October 2011 |
14 | Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson | 1 October 2011 | 23 February 2015 |
15 | Geir Haarde | 23 February 2015 | Incumbent |
See also
References
- List of Icelandic representatives (Icelandic Foreign Ministry website) (Icelandic)
- Office of the Historian: