SPEAKERS IN 2018

The President of Iceland is the country´s head of state and the only representative chosen by the entire electorate in a direct election. The office of President was established in the Constitution of the Republic of Iceland which took effect on 17 June 1944. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson was born in Reykjavík on 26 June, 1968. He is the son of Margrét Thorlacius and Jóhannes Sæmundsson; Jóhannes died in 1983. Guðni grew up in Garðabær and has two brothers. Guðni graduated from secondary school in 1987 in Reykjavík, then studied history and political science at Warwick University in England and finished his B.A. degree in 1991. He studied German at Bonn University in Germany in 1991-1992 and Russian at the University of Iceland in 1993-1994. Guðni graduated with a master’s degree in history from the University of Iceland in 1997. He studied at Oxford University in England and graduated with an M.St. degree in history in 1999. In 2003 he completed his Ph.D. in history from Queen Mary, University of London.