Hvönn Dagbjörg Björkardattir

*This name uses Velkanian naming customs; the last name is a matronymic, not a family name. This person should be properly referred to by the given name* Hvönn.

**Hvönn Dagbjörg Björkardattir** (born 22 August 1960) is a Velkanian politician who has served as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in both the first and second Sif María Vilhjálmardattir cabinets since 2014. She has additionally served as a member of the Orthing since 2014, and is a member of the Liberal-Conservative Party.

Hvönn was born in Árbæjarjavík to a single mother and grew up on a sheep farm, where they raised sheep for their milk and wool. After graduating from primary school in 1976, Hvönn opted not to attend upper secondary school in order to work full-time on the family farm. Following the death of her mother in 1993, Hvönn inherited the family farm and began operating it herself. She decided to begin attending night school classes in order to receive a secondary school diploma, and went on to graduate in 1998. In 2014, Hvönn began her political career after being successfully elected to parliament in the 2014 election. Seen as a protégée of Sif María Vilhjálmardattir, Hvönn was offered a place in Sif's first cabinet as only a freshman legislator, serving as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. She remained in the same position after the government dissolved and the second Sif María Vilhjálmardattir cabinet was formed, being one of only three ministerial appointments to remain in the same position.

## Early life, education, and career

Hvönn was born on 22 August 1960 in Árbæjarjavík to single mother Björk Sigbjartardattir (1919–1993). The family was Arklandic and spoke both Velkanian and Arklandic in their home. Just prior to Hvönn's birth, her mother had inherited the family farm following the death of her father, as she was an only child. Hvönn has never met her biological father, and was told conflicting stories by her mother regarding his identity. She grew up as an only child on the family sheep farm, where she, her mother, and her maternal grandmother raised sheep for their milk and wool.

Hvönn began her education in 1966, attending a local, public primary school in Árbæjarjavík. While in primary school, Hvönn was a gifted student, but her mother discouraged education and wanted Hvönn to work on the family farm more than she prioritized her schoolwork. After graduating from primary school in 1976, Hvönn opted not to continue her education at her mother's request, despite her teachers' pleas to apply to an upper secondary school. She eventually began working on the farm full-time, and frequently assisted her mother with finances and the management portion of farm upkeep, as her mother struggled with numbers and academic tasks.

After her mother's death from breast cancer in 1993, Hvönn inherited the farm and became its full owner. She began devoting herself entirely to the financial and management aspects of the operation, and began hiring out professional help for manual labor rather than relying on her family like previous generations had. Under her ownership, the farm's profits quadrupled and they began selling wool to a number of Velkanian clothing manufacturers. In 1994, Hvönn began attending night school in order to receive an upper secondary school diploma, ultimately graduating in 1998.

## Political career

### Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

Hvönn began her political career in 2014, after being elected to the Orthing in the 2014 election. Hvönn was one of a number of candidates included on the Liberal-Conservative party list in the election in order to diversify the party and shed the "old rich men" label that the party had become attached to, as directed by new party leader Sif María Vilhjálmardattir.

After her election, Hvönn was nominated to serve as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in the first Sif María Vilhjálmardattir cabinet. Being a freshman legislator nominated to serve in the cabinet drew attention from the media, with many commentating that it was likely that Hvönn had "greatly impressed" Sif. As Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hvönn sought for increased agricultural subsidies and decreased taxation on farms. Following the 2018 election, Hvönn continued to serve as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in the second Sif María Vilhjálmardattir cabinet, being one of only three appointed ministers to remain in the same position.

## Personal life

Hvönn began a relationship with Velkanian carpenter Flóki Orrason in 1976, while they were both sixteen years old. They became engaged in 1978, and married later that year. Upon their marriage, Flóki began residing on the farm where Hvönn grew up and started working there with her. They have six children together: María, born  (1979-04-02) 2 April 1979 (age 44), Davíð, born  (1980-11-13) 13 November 1980 (age 43), Yngvar, born  (1982-06-17) 17 June 1982 (age 41), Jón, born  (1983-09-22) 22 September 1983 (age 40), Guðbjörg, born  (1986-10-30) 30 October 1986 (age 37), and Björk, born  (1990-01-28) 28 January 1990 (age 33).

Hvönn is fluent in Velkanian, Arklandic, and Ditrovian, but has called Velkanian her "primary language." While she studied Forsish in order to receive her secondary school diploma, she has called her knowledge of the language "near nonexistent." Hvönn continues to reside on her family sheep farm in Árbæjarjavík; the farm's land has been greatly expanded, so that it now is a complex that consists of seven separate three-bedroom houses. This expansion was completed in 2004, in order to preserve her children's privacy. She also rents an apartment in Narísandur for parliamentary business.