Historic Icelandic Woman Honoured On 100th Anniversary Of Suffrage

Iceland celebrated the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, amongst many other ways, by unveiling a statue of a pioneer of women’s rights in Iceland.

Icelanders today celebrated the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote. In honour of this occasion, many downtown streets were closed to car traffic, numerous work places gave their female employees half days or the whole day off, and Icelanders of all genders enjoyed festivities downtown.

In addition, many gathered to protest the fact that, although parliament would be celebrating this occasion, they also broke a strike of workers comprised overwhelmingly of women. RÚV reports that they additionally take issue with the lack of initiative on the part of the government to confront violence against women in a meaningful way.

One of the highlights of the day, Vísir reports, was the unveiling of a statue dedicated to Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason.

Ingibjörg was not only the first woman to take a seat in Icelandic parliament – in 1922 – she was also a powerful proponent of women’s rights. She also led a committee which helped create the national hospital Landspítali.

The statue stands by the Icelandic parliament, for those wishing to visit and pay their respects.