1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: show that tallies the losses and the wins of everyday history. 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and in this episode we're talking about 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: how a divorced, single mom became the longest serving female 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:34,880 Speaker 1: head of state in history. The day was August first, 7 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:41,599 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty Icelandic politician Vigdis finbo Do Tyr became the 8 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:46,599 Speaker 1: first woman in the world to be elected president. Throughout history, 9 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,279 Speaker 1: a number of women had become heads of state by 10 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 1: right of birth or marriage. Then, in nineteen forty four, 11 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: kertek Ashima Toka became the first woman head of state 12 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: to be elected when she was made the head of 13 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: the Parliament of the Tauvin People's Republic, which is now 14 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: part of Russia. The first female president arrived in nineteen 15 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: seventy six, when Isabel Parone assumed the office following the 16 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: death of her husband, Argentine President Juan Paron, whom Isabel 17 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: had served as vice president. That means that Vignus finbo 18 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: Do Tier wasn't the first woman to rule a nation, 19 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: or to be elected head of state, or even to 20 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: serve as president, but she was the first woman president 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: to be democratically elected by the will of her people. 22 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: Vigdis finbo Gotier was born on April fifteenth, nineteen thirty 23 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: in reikievic Iceland. She was born to a wealthy and 24 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: prominent family. Her mother presided over Iceland's National Nurses Association 25 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: and her father was a civil engineer. Despite these social advantages, 26 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: Vigdis never dreamed of becoming president. Instead, her chie childhood 27 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: aspiration was to become captain of a ship, though I 28 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: guess you could argue that is a little like being president. 29 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: By the time she was eighteen, Vignus had changed her 30 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: mind about setting out to sea, so she enrolled in 31 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: Reykievich College, where she majored in World languages. After graduating 32 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty nine, she continued her study of French 33 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: language at the University of Grenoble and the Sorbonne in Paris, 34 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: as well as at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. 35 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: She also studied English literature, drama and theater history, both 36 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: in Denmark and at the University of Iceland, where she 37 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: later taught some of those same courses. Throughout the nineteen 38 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: sixties and seventies, Vignus tried her hand at a number 39 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: of careers. Besides teaching. During the summers, she worked as 40 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: a guide and translator for the Icelandic Tourist Bureau, and 41 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: from nineteen seventy two to nineteen eighty she served as 42 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: director of the Reykievich Theatre Company, and even did some 43 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 1: acting of her own in an experimental theater group. During 44 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: that period, Vigdis also took on the role of cultural ambassador, 45 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: appearing on iceland State television to present French lessons and 46 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: cultural programming. Those educational shows, which were some of the 47 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:23,119 Speaker 1: first Icelandic language broadcasts in the country, were immensely popular 48 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: and made Vigdis a household name. In nineteen seventy six, 49 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: she was appointed to the Nordic Council of Ministers as 50 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,919 Speaker 1: a member of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Affairs and 51 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: Nordic Countries. Then two years later she was elected the 52 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: organization's chair. By that point, Vigdis had developed a knack 53 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: for defying society's expectations for women. When in early marriage 54 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: went sour, she filed for divorce, and when she later 55 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: wanted to have a child, she adopted a daughter making 56 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: her the first single woman in Iceland to do so. 57 00:03:57,600 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: She defied the odds again in the late nineteen sive 58 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: seventies when she survived about with breast cancer, only to 59 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: turn around and run for president shortly after. Vigdas's bid 60 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: for the presidency came in the wake of a historic 61 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: women's strike in nineteen seventy five, which saw ninety percent 62 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: of Iceland's women take the day off in protest of 63 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: gender inequality. Despite this national push for women's rights, Victis 64 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: didn't expect to win the nineteen eighty election, but she 65 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: hoped to prove that a woman could effectively run a campaign, 66 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: thus paving the way for others to follow in her footsteps. 67 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: Her campaign focused on education and culture, but she was 68 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: accused of being a Communist sympathizer due to her anti 69 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: military views and her opposition to a US presence in Iceland. 70 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: Vigdas was also disparaged for being a single mother, and 71 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: one of the other three candidates, all of whom were men, 72 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: even maligned her for having had a masectomy. He questioned 73 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: whether having just won breast would hinder her a ability 74 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: to lead the country, to which Victus Riley responded quote, 75 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: it was never my intention to breastfeed the nation. On 76 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: June twenty ninth, nineteen eighty, Victims beat the odds again 77 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 1: by winning thirty three point six per cent of the 78 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: national vote. One month later, on August first, she was 79 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: officially sworn in as the fourth President of the Republic 80 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: of Iceland. She would go on to win reelection three times, 81 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: running unopposed in two elections and winning roughly ninety five 82 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: percent of the vote in the other. The main role 83 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: of the Icelandic President is to represent the country as 84 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: the head of state rather than the head of government. 85 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: That makes it a largely ceremonial position, similar to the 86 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,600 Speaker 1: kings and queens of constitutional monarchies. That said, the president 87 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: is still responsible for signing legislation passed by the Icelandic Parliament, 88 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: and they have the power to appoint ministers and to 89 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: pardon crimes. As you'd expect given her background, President Vigdis 90 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: also took an active role in promoting Iceland's cultural heritage, 91 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: both at home and abroad, and she championed the fight 92 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: for women's rights, reportedly governing by the personal motto never 93 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: let down the women. When Vigdis took office only five 94 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: percent of members of Iceland's parliament were women, but her 95 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: record setting sixteen year tenure encouraged generations of women to 96 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: get involved in politics. As a result, the parliament's divide 97 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: between men and women is now almost fifty to fifty. 98 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 1: Iceland has also made strides in closing the gender cap 99 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,359 Speaker 1: in other areas besides politics, including health care, education, and 100 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: the labor force. As a result of those efforts, Iceland 101 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: has been ranked as the most gender equal country in 102 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: the world for fifteen years in a row as of 103 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. As for the woman who held Jumpstart 104 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: All That Change. After retiring from the presidency in nineteen 105 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: ninety six, vigdis founded the Council of Women World Leaders 106 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: and went on to serve as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador 107 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: for World Languages. Today, at age ninety four, she remains 108 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: an outspoken champion of her two life's passions, linguistic diversity 109 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:26,679 Speaker 1: and women's rights. The former president's inspiring life of service 110 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: supports a view that she once espoused herself that if 111 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: anything can save the world, women can. I'm Gabe blues 112 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: gay and hopefully you now know a little more about 113 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 114 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 115 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show. And if you have 116 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my 117 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: way by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot org. 118 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: Thanks to kaz By Bias for producing the show, and 119 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back here 120 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,679 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class.