Bjarni Benediktsson

Bjarni Benediktsson (born 26 January 1970), known colloquially as Bjarni Ben, is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from January to November 2017. He has been the leader of the Icelandic Independence Party since 2009, and served as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs from 2013 to 2017, a post he later retained under Katrín Jakobsdóttir and held until his resignation in October 2023. He is the current Minister for Foreign Affairs. Early life and education Bjarni was born in Reykjavík. His great uncle was the former prime minister of Iceland of the same name, Bjarni Benediktsson. After obtaining a law degree at the University of Iceland, Bjarni went on to learn German and law at the Goethe-Institut and University of Freiburg respectively in Germany from 1995 to 1996. In the following year he would attend the University of Miami in the United States, where he earned a LL.M. degree. He then returned to Iceland, working as an attorney. Political career Bjarni entered the national parliament in 2003 and has been active in several committees in the areas of economy and taxation, industry and foreign affairs.