Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland

Iceland is an island country in northern Europe near the Arctic Circle between the Atlantic Ocean and the Greenland Sea of ??the Arctic Ocean. It has a land area of ??103,000 square kilometers and a population of only 320,000. It has the smallest population density in Europe. country.

In 1971, Iceland formally established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level with China, and has maintained friendly relations with China since then.

In particular, the free trade agreement signed with China during the visit of Johanna Sigurdardottir, the first female prime minister in the history of Iceland, to China, brought relations between the two countries to a new level.

So, from stewardess to prime minister, and then marrying her girlfriend, what kind of unique life experience does this female prime minister, known as "St. John" to Icelanders, have?

The history of "St. John's" struggle

During her tenure as Prime Minister of Iceland, Johanna focused her governance on safeguarding the rights and interests of vulnerable groups.

At the beginning of taking office, Johanna was appointed at a critical moment in order to alleviate the economic recession caused by the financial crisis.

With the ambition to revitalize the Icelandic economy, we immediately started to rebuild some economic projects, so that the rights and interests of the old, weak, sick and disabled people in Iceland were greatly protected.

The lower classes rejoiced and affectionately called her "St. John".

However, this goddess in the eyes of the Icelandic people only has a high school education.

In 1942, Johanna was born into a political family in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Both her grandfather and grandmother held important positions in the largest trade union in Iceland. This also became the basis for Johanna's future success in the trade union. Extraordinary political capital.

In 1961, after graduating from a business school in her youth, Johanna decided to apply for an airline job.

Her dignified appearance and tall figure were immediately noticed by the airline, but the highly motivated Johanna did not want to continue to enjoy this bowl of youth rice for a long time.

After years of hard work, she became the head of the labor union with her excellent organizational skills, thus opening the door to the highest podium in politics.

Subsequently, through her unremitting strategizing, she was finally elected as a member of Parliament in 1978. Nine years later, she became the Minister of Social Affairs.

During her tenure, she was the only government official who refused to use government cars and drivers and drove to work by herself.

With her outstanding appearance, selfless dedication and unswerving pursuit of gender equality, Johanna gained high prestige among the people.

So much so that when Iceland experienced a serious financial crisis and the public sentiment was unstable, she became the only senior government official who was promoted instead of being demoted.

In 2008, a global financial crisis swept across Iceland.

Under this impact, the former Icelandic government with Halder of the Independence Party as Prime Minister faced a continuously declining economic trend, and the people were complaining, and they were unable to remedy the political situation that collapsed. Under tremendous pressure, he was forced to resign on January 26, 2009.

Subsequently, the President of Iceland immediately ordered the reorganization of the government. Johanna, a member of the Social Democratic Party who was very popular among the people, officially announced his inauguration as Prime Minister of the government on February 1 with the support of other parties.

So far, she has become the first female Prime Minister in the history of Iceland, and also the first woman in the world to marry as a homosexual while serving as Prime Minister.

The relationship history of "St. John"

In fact, as early as 1970, Johanna had a marriage. Her husband was a banker. The man once gave birth to two boys.

However, this 22-year marriage ended in breakdown.

Not long after her divorce, she met the female writer Nina. The two met and immediately fell in love.

In 2002, they began an eight-year relationship. "Civil Union".

This relationship was not protected by law at the time, but this did not prevent them from living together, who had a deep love for each other.

Similar to Johanna’s situation, Nina also had a marriage before. Her husband was a political scientist, and they also had a child.

Nina is a top student in the Department of English Literature at the University of Iceland. Before meeting Johanna, she had published many screenplays, five novels and two biographies.

In addition, she has published several articles in a women's magazine.

In fact, the same-sex union between Johanna and Nina did not cause an uproar in Iceland. This is because the Icelandic people are not very interested in sexual orientation.

Iceland is an open and inclusive country. Compared with personal private life, citizens value the leader’s prestige, ability, policy direction and the means to solve the current bad economic trends.

On the contrary, Johanna's open homosexuality can gain her greater fame.

This is just like Obama's black identity, which undoubtedly adds another dimension to the general election. Political weight.

"The silence of the media reflects public opinion. Homosexuality is not a topic in Iceland, it is a common thing here." Margaret, director of the School of Public Administration and Politics at the University of Iceland So said.

Many people also said that pragmatic Icelanders will not be too interested in the president's homosexuality. They will focus on how the president leads the people out of the difficult economic difficulties.

Although Johanna and Nina's same-sex union was not met with much criticism, their marriage was never legalized for eight years.

In 2010, when Johanna became the Prime Minister of the country, she immediately began to legalize the name of herself and her lover!

In March of the same year, a bill "recognizing same-sex marriage" drafted by her personally was placed on the parliamentary agenda.

Three months later, with Johanna’s active promotion, on June 27, Parliament finally passed a law legalizing gay marriage.

This is also the ninth country to legalize homosexuality in Iceland after the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries have successively legislated gay marriage.

On the day when the bill came into effect, Johanna and Nina held a grand wedding. Witnessed by the priest and everyone, they completed their marriage together. A "shattering act" that is not understood by ordinary people.

The political achievements of Iceland’s first female prime minister

In fact, as early as 1940, Iceland had declared that homosexuality was not illegal, but lovers could only enter into civil partnerships and cannot be protected by law.

That’s why it happened in 2010. After Johanna became Prime Minister, she walked onto the red carpet with her lover through legal means and made their marriage a reality. At this time, she and her lover Nina were already suffering. Been in love for eight years!

In the political world, "St. John" was not the instigator of making gay marriage public. As early as 2002, Christian Voss, a member of the Norwegian Parliament, and his same-sex partner Naback served as the Norwegian ambassador to Sweden. A marriage registration ceremony was held at the museum.

This set the precedent for same-sex marriage among senior government officials around the world.

Not long after Johanna and Nina got married, German Foreign Minister Westerwelle and his lover Mroz, with the blessings of more than 20 relatives and friends, finally got married after seven years of love. Achieve positive results and enter the palace of marriage.

The witness of their marriage was the mayor of Bonn at the time. The love story of this gay man was very similar to that of Johanna and Nina.

Compared with Johanna’s ups and downs in her love life, as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, her political talents and courage are equally talked about.

Under her beautiful and intellectual appearance, she has perseverance, courage and intelligence that are difficult for ordinary women to possess.

Think back to the financial crisis that swept the world, when a group of male politicians were retreating because of the collapse of the domestic economy, causing public dissatisfaction and political collapse.

This woman from the grassroots, with her resolute approach and diligent and pragmatic style, turned the tide before it fell and helped the building that was about to collapse.

Withstanding heavy pressure, a major political crisis was resolved, allowing the people at the bottom to gain a sense of happiness.

While serving as Prime Minister, Johanna also attached great importance to maintaining friendly and developing relations with China.

During her visit to China in 2013, she was cordially received by the leaders, and under the witness of both parties, a free trade agreement was signed in Beijing.

According to the provisions of the Free Trade Agreement, Iceland will implement zero tariffs on all industrial products and aquatic products imported from China from the date of the agreement's entry into force. These products account for 99.77% of China's total exports to Iceland.

At the same time, China has implemented zero tariffs on 7,830 products imported from Iceland. This undoubtedly opens a new milestone in the diplomatic history of the two countries and will play a good role in the economies of both countries!

An exploration of the love psychology of "St. John"

So, why does such a strong woman have a "sexual orientation" that is different from ordinary people?

In fact, Johanna and Nina had their own opposite-sex partners before. Perhaps they each experienced the fatigue brought by heterosexuality and tried their best to break away from the cage of the world.

This can be seen from the fact that after Johanna was elected president, she vigorously advocated for greater rights for disadvantaged groups such as disabled people, women, and the elderly.

Women have slender, delicate Flexibility, kindness, sensitivity and many other character traits.

They long to be cared for, protected, respected and understood. At the same time, they also look forward to shining on the social and political stage like men.

And this relationship between hardness and softness creates a seemingly irresolvable conflict, and the male partner is even more helpless about it.

Therefore, Johanna, who has a resolute personality, will fall in love with Nina, who is talented, considerate and charming.

Although the two have maintained a very low-key attitude from the time they fell in love to the time they got married, we can really feel the two from Johanna's move to clear her lover's name as soon as she came on stage. The intensity and sweetness of love can even reach the highest state of love that many people look forward to - soul compatibility.

Now, in her seventies, Johanna Sigurdardottir is still slender despite her silver hair. I sincerely wish her good health, long life and sweet love.