President Of Iceland Turns 50

Beloved Icelandic President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson is celebrating his 50th birthday on this very day, which coincides with the Icelandic national men football team‘s game against Croatia.

Eliza Reid, the President’s wife, shared a loving message on Facebook earlier today, stating that the family would “spend the day according to [Guðni’s] wishes”. Her congratulatory post, which is currently liked by almost five thousand people, is accompanied by a photo of a young Guðni Th. taken at Oxford University, where both of them spent time studying history.

According to RÚV, the President started his birthday-celebrations by hiking the volcanic mountain Helgafell near Hafnarfjörður with his staff in the morning. Later, Guðni Th. is said to have enjoyed a surprise concert by the popular Icelandic men’s choir Fjallabræður, who also joined him for a birthday coffee at Bessastaðir, the President’s official residence.

What Guðni Th. will be up to this afternoon is unknown – however, First Lady Eliza shares that the President will naturally be following the Icelandic national football team as they face their strong opponent Croatia at 18:00. Her birthday message thus ends with an appropriate “áfram Ísland” (“go Iceland!”). The President’s birthday activity is not quite surprising, as he has called the day that Iceland beat England in 2016 at the European Championships “the best day of my life”, in a recent interview.

Let’s hope strákarnir okkar will not disappoint and present their President with a befittingly victorious football game for his birthday.