Heiða Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir (born 26 April 1978) is an Icelandic sheep farmer and former model who serves as a deputy member of the Althing.
Career
editFrom her late teens until she was 23, Heiða worked as a fashion model, including in New York City; she returned to take over her parents' sheep farm, Ljótarstaðir on the River Tungufljót, after her father could no longer manage it. He has since died; she lives there with her mother and also runs occasional walking tours of the farm, which covers 6,464 hectares (15,970 acres) and has about 500 sheep.[1][2][3][4] As of 2014[update] she was possibly the only Icelandic woman shearing sheep;[5] in February 2017 she was the only female contestant in the machine shearing division at the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in New Zealand.[1][4][6]
She has also worked in construction and as a local police officer,[7] and is on the board of the nearby Vatnajökull National Park.[3] In 2017 she modelled again, for a new Icelandic brand.[8]
Heiða became involved in environmental politics fighting plans to construct a hydro-electric plant which would involve damming the river and flooding much of her farm.[1][2][4][9] She was elected as an alternate member of the Althing in the 2017 elections, representing the South constituency for the Left-Green Movement,[7][10] and made her maiden speech on 18 September 2018.[11]
Biography
editIn 2016 she was the subject of novelist and poet Steinunn Sigurðardóttir's first non-fiction book, Heiða – Fjalldalabóndi (Heiða – The Farmer in the Valley, her local nickname).[1][6][12][13]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Toby Skinner; River Thompson (4 October 2017). "The Icelandic model who shears sheep". BBC Travel.
- ^ a b "Reel: The Icelandic model who shears sheep" (video with subtitles, 1 minute 30 seconds). BBC Travel. November 2018.
- ^ a b Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir. "Spirited Sheep Farmer". Promote Iceland. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "Farmer, model and politician". Iceland Monitor. 11 February 2017.
- ^ Kristín Heiða Kristinsdóttir (22 May 2014). "Lagni er það sem skiptir máli í rúningi". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
- ^ a b Vala Hafstað (10 February 2017). "Icelandic Shearer Attracts Attention". Iceland Review.
- ^ a b "Heiða Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir: Frambjóðandi til Alþingis" (in Icelandic). RÚV. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ Kristín Heiða Kristinsdóttir (21 April 2017). "Fjalldalabóndi situr fyrir eftir 20 ára hlé". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
- ^ "Óðs manns æði að virkja". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 6 May 2012 [5 May 2012].
- ^ Björn Jóhann Björnsson; Höskuldur Daði Magnússon (23 October 2017). "Þriðjungur þingheims nýtt fólk". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
- ^ "Heiða Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir tekur sæti á alþingi" (in Icelandic). Left-Green Movement. 18 September 2018.
- ^ Egill Helgason (24 November 2016). "Fjalldalabóndinn Heiða og barátta hennar" (with video, 9 minutes) (in Icelandic). RÚV.
- ^ Steinunn Sigurðardóttir (26 November 2016). "Þögnin um Heiðu rofin". Fréttatíminn (in Icelandic). p. 48.
Further reading
edit- Sólrún Lilja Ragnarsdóttir (7 August 2015). "Fyrirsætan sem gerðist bóndi" [The model who became a farmer]. Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). pp. 20–22.
External links
edit- Heiða Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir at Alþingi (in Icelandic)