Benedikt Gröndal (born 1924)

Benedikt Gröndal
21st Prime Minister of Iceland
In office 15 October 1979 – 8 February 1980
President	Kristján Eldjárn
Preceded by	Ólafur Jóhannesson
Succeeded by	Gunnar Thoroddsen
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 September 1978 – 8 February 1980
Prime Minister	Ólafur Jóhannesson Himself
Preceded by	Einar Ágústsson
Succeeded by	Ólafur Jóhannesson
Personal details
Born	(1924-07-07)7 July 1924 Önundarfjörður, Kingdom of Iceland
Died	20 July 2010(2010-07-20) (aged 86) Reykjavík, Iceland
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Alma mater	Harvard University University of Oxford

Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal (7 July 1924 – 20 July 2010) was Prime Minister of Iceland for the Social Democratic Party (Alþýðuflokkurinn) from 15 October 1979 to 8 February 1980. Prior to that he was Minister of Foreign Affairs 1978–1980. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs during his tenure as PM, therefore the only politician from the independence 1944 to serve in both cabinet positions at the same time.

His government was the second Social Democrat minority government of Iceland, formed after the collapse of Ólafur Jóhannesson's cabinet, with Gröndal's cabinet only being formed as a temporary solution until the 1979 parliamentary election. His cabinet was defeated in the election and his party was not asked to form the next cabinet. Gröndal was a member of Althingi from 1956 to 1982 and led his party from 1974 to 1980. He attended the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1966.

After leaving the political scene in 1982, Gröndal was appointed ambassador of Iceland to Sweden and Finland. After residing for some years in Stockholm, he served as roving ambassador to the Far East, including Australia, China, South Korea and Japan. After serving two years as representative to the United Nations, Benedikt Gröndal retired to his native home in 1991. He died on 20 July 2010 at the age of 86.