Eliza Jean Reid (born 5 May 1976) is a Canadian-Icelandic writer and, from 2016 to 2024, the First Lady of Iceland through her marriage to Icelandic PresidentGuðni Th. Jóhannesson. Before becoming First Lady she co-founded the Iceland Writers Retreat, was a freelance writer for multiple Icelandic magazines and editor of the Icelandair Stopover from 2012 to 2016.
Reid ran the summer student volunteer program at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children in 1998, and volunteered for the Red Cross in Iceland. Reid later worked in sales from 1999 to 2003 and in marketing until 2004.[6]
After her move to Iceland in 2003, Reid became a freelance writer for multiple Icelandic publications. She wrote for The Reykjavík Grapevine and Iceland Review from 2005 to 2008 and became an editor for Icelandair Stopover in 2012. She co-founded the Iceland Writers Retreat in 2014, an event which has garnered international acclaim.[9]
Reid has been nominated for 'Person of the Year' by multiple Icelandic media outlets.[10][11]
In October 2020 her book Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World was announced, and has been published by Sourcebooks in the US and Simon & Schuster in Canada in 2022. [12][13] The book was well-received[14][15] and gained endorsements from numerous high-profile authors,[16] as well as from Hillary Clinton, and became a national bestseller in Canada.[17]
Causes
She is patron of several organizations in Iceland, including the United Nations Association Iceland and is also a Goodwill Ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages Iceland. In September 2017, Reid visited the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan at the invitation of UN Women.[18] On March 23, 2019 she accepted an invitation to visit the Mosque in Iceland.[19]
Reid loves to travel and has made solo-trips to many countries. In 2017, she was named a United Nations Special Ambassador for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals.[20]
Reid has advocated for the recycling of clothing by making public appearances in clothing she purchased from local Red Cross stores.[21] She has spoken on several occasions about her disdain for shopping.[22]
Feminism and gender equality
Reid is known as a vocal proponent and advocate for women's rights and gender-parity. In 2019, she was honored in Berlin with an award on International Women's Day.[23] On June 19, 2017, during the 102nd anniversary of women's right to vote in Iceland, Reid advocated for gender rights and acknowledged there is still much work for Iceland to do in this regard.[24] In March 2018, Reid gave a keynote speech at the Young Women Business Leaders.[25]
On 31 August 2019, Reid used her public Facebook page to respond to an opinion article by Zoe Williams in the British newspaper The Guardian, which criticized the media coverage of the spouses of global leaders attending the 2019 G7 conference, writing "I make a concerted effort not to be seen as an accessory to my husband".[26][27][28] She has also been vocal about the undefined nature of being the partner of a head of state, and the perils and opportunities of that situation.[29][30]
On 4 September 2019, Reid was the subject of political and media speculation for wearing a white pantsuit[31] to a meeting with US Vice President Michael Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence in Reykjavik, which many saw as a symbol of solidarity with other global gender parity initiatives such as #TimesUp #MeToo and modern day Women's Rights and Suffragettes movements.[32] She wore a rainbow bracelet on her wrist to the Pence meeting as well, which has been seen as a show of solidarity with the LGBTQA community.[33] The President of Iceland wore a bracelet to the same meeting and has worn the bracelet to meetings with Vladimir Putin.
In October 2021, Reid directed attention to the marginalizing practices of the media, after they left her name off of a photo credit after the visit to Iceland by the Crown Prince of Denmark,[34] asking "do women exist?"
United Nations Special Ambassador for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals
Personal life
In 2004, Reid married historian Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, who became President of Iceland in 2016. The couple have four children together.[35] She is the sister of Canadian writer Iain Reid.[36]
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