Kristján Eldjárn
Kristján Eldjárn, an archaeologist, was elected president of Iceland on 30 June 1968. He left office in 1980.
The third president of the republic, Kristján Eldjárn was born at Tjörn in Svarfaðardalur Valley on 6 December 1916 and died on 14 September 1982. He was married to Halldóra Eldjárn (1923-2008). They had four children: Ólöf, Þórarinn, Sigrún and Ingólfur.
Kristján completed upper secondary school in 1936 and studied archaeology at the University of Copenhagen the next three years. He completed a Master’s in Icelandic Studies from the University of Iceland in 1944 and earned a doctoral degree from the same school in 1957.
Kristján taught at Akureyri Junior College (Menntaskólinn á Akureyri) and the College of Navigation (Stýrimannaskólinn) in Reykjavík and served as a curator at the National Museum of Iceland starting in 1945. He was appointed the museum’s director two years later.
Kristján served three terms as president. He was re-elected without opposition in 1972 and 1976.