Eliza Reid

{{for|the late-19th- and early-20th-century Canadian advocate for women's rights|Eliza Ann McIntosh Reid}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Eliza Reid

| honorific_suffix =

| image = File:Eliza Reid Keynote at Startup Iceland 2019 (cropped).jpg

| image_size = 220px

| image_upright =

| smallimage =

| alt =

| caption = Reid in 2019

| order =

| office = First Lady of Iceland

| term_label = In role

| term_start = 1 August 2016

| term_end = 1 August 2024

| predecessor = Dorrit Moussaieff

| successor = Björn Skúlason

| president = Guðni Th. Jóhannesson

| pronunciation =

| birth_name = Eliza Jean Reid

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|5|5|df=y}}

| birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = {{marriage|Guðni Th. Jóhannesson|2004}}

| children = 4

| alma_mater = {{ubl | Trinity College, Toronto | St Antony's College, Oxford}}

}}

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 President Guðni 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.

Early life and education

Reid was born on 5 May 1976 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.{{Cite news |url=https://www.mbl.is/frettir/kosning/2016/06/26/gudni_verdur_yngsti_forsetinn/|title=Guðni er yngsti forseti Íslandssögunnar |work=Morgunblaðið |language=is |date=2020-06-16 |access-date=2020-06-16}}{{cite news |title=Ottawa-born Eliza Reid becomes Iceland's first lady |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iceland-gets-canadian-first-lady-eliza-reid-1.3653203 |date=June 26, 2016}} She moved with her family to Ashton, Ontario, as a child. After moving, she attended Bell High School in Nepean, Ontario.{{cite news|last1=Harford|first1=Evelyn|title=Iceland's new first lady grew up on a hobby farm near Ashton|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/icelands-new-first-lady-grew-up-on-a-hobby-farm-near-ashton|accessdate=1 December 2017|work=Ottawa Citizen|date=26 June 2016}} As a student at Trinity College, University of Toronto,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/06/26/iceland-elects-new-president-and-gets-a-canadian-first-lady.html|title=Iceland elects new president, and gets a Canadian first lady {{!}} The Star|website=thestar.com|date=26 June 2016|language=en|access-date=2019-09-09}} Reid became a choral scholar and served as Head of College.{{Cite web|url=http://magazine.trinity.utoronto.ca/she-the-north/|title=She the North – Trinity Magazine|language=en-CA|access-date=2019-09-09}} After she moved to Iceland she sang for the Hallgrímskirkja Motet Choir. After she graduated from the University of Toronto{{cite news|last1=Daubs|first1=Katie|title=Iceland elects new president, and gets a Canadian first lady|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/06/26/iceland-elects-new-president-and-gets-a-canadian-first-lady.html|work=The Star|date=26 June 2016}} with a bachelor's degree in international relations, she went to St Antony's College, Oxford University, to complete an MA degree in modern history.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/alumni-and-development/publications/antonian-newsletter/alumni-updates-new-books/alumni-updates-mt13|title=Alumni Updates - MT13 {{!}} St Antony's College|website=www.sant.ox.ac.uk|access-date=2019-09-09}}

Career

File:Islands first lady Eliza Reid in Stockholm 2018-2.jpg during a state visit in Stockholm in Sweden in 2018]]

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.{{cite web|title=First Lady Eliza Reid|url=http://www.forseti.is/about-the-president/first-lady-eliza-reid/|website=President of Iceland|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619161127/https://www.forseti.is/about-the-president/first-lady-eliza-reid/|archivedate=19 June 2017|accessdate=1 December 2017}}

= Writing =

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/the-worlds-best-writers-retreats-20140905-10d2dw.html|title=The world's best writers' retreats|last=Oakes-Ash|first=Rachael|date=2014-09-08|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2019-09-09}}

She served on the jury of the 2018 British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

Reid has been nominated for 'Person of the Year' by multiple Icelandic media outlets.{{Cite web|url=https://www.visir.is/g/2019191229714|title=Þau eru tilnefnd sem Maður ársins 2019 - Vísir|website=visir.is|date=23 December 2019 |access-date=2020-01-10}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ruv.is/frett/hver-er-manneskja-arsins-2019|title=Hver er manneskja ársins 2019?|last=davidrg|date=2019-12-20|website=RÚV|language=en|access-date=2020-01-10}}

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.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-30|title=From Iceland — Eliza Reid Writing Book About Icelandic Women|url=https://grapevine.is/news/2020/10/30/eliza-reid-writing-book-about-icelandic-women/|access-date=2020-11-10|website=The Reykjavik Grapevine|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Welcoming Eliza Reid to Transatlantic & Deal News!|date=29 October 2020|url=https://www.transatlanticagency.com/2020/10/29/welcoming-eliza-reid-to-transatlantic/|access-date=2020-11-10|language=en-US}} The book was well-received{{Cite news |date=2022-03-10 |title=11 New Books We Recommend This Week |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/books/review/11-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html |access-date=2022-03-14 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Leive |first=Cindi |date=2022-02-08 |title=What Makes Iceland So Great? Ask Its First Lady. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/review/secrets-of-the-sprakkar-eliza-reid.html |access-date=2022-03-14 |issn=0362-4331}} and gained endorsements from numerous high-profile authors,{{Cite news |last=Dundas |first=Deborah |date=2022-03-07 |title=What to read for International Women's Day |language=en-CA |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2022/03/07/what-to-read-for-international-womens-day.html |access-date=2022-03-14 |issn=0319-0781}} as well as from Hillary Clinton, and became a national bestseller in Canada.{{Cite news |date=2022-02-09 |title=The bestselling books in Canada for the week ending Feb. 9, 2022 |language=en-CA |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2022/02/09/the-bestselling-books-in-canada-for-the-week-ending-feb-9-2022.html |access-date=2022-03-14 |issn=0319-0781}}

In 2024 she published the murder mystery novel Death on the Island.[https://www.cbc.ca/books/eliza-reid-s-debut-novel-is-a-murder-mystery-involving-diplomats-on-an-icelandic-island-1.7410002 "Eliza Reid's debut novel is a murder mystery involving diplomats on an Icelandic island"]. CBC Books, December 18, 2024. In April 2025, Blink49 Studios and Truenorth announced that they had optioned the novel for development into a six-episode television limited series.Jesse Whittock, [https://deadline.com/2025/04/eliza-reid-novel-tv-adaptation-blink49-studios-1236380839/ "Blink49 Studios Adapting Debut Novel Of Eliza Reid, Former First Lady Of Iceland, As TV Crime Drama"]. Deadline Hollywood, April 30, 2025.

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.{{Cite web|url=https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2017/11/09/iceland_s_first_lady_visits_refugee_camp_in_jordan/|title=Iceland's First Lady visits refugee camp in Jordan|website=Iceland Monitor|access-date=2019-09-09}} On March 23, 2019 she accepted an invitation to visit the Mosque in Iceland.{{Cite web|url=https://stundin.is/grein/8717/eliza-reid-forsetafru-segir-sjalfsagt-ad-syna-islomskum-vinum-samstodu/|title=Eliza Reid forsetafrú segir sjálfsagt að sýna íslömskum vinum samstöðu|last=Ólafsdóttir|first=Alma Mjöll|date=27 March 2019|website=Stundin|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331135759/https://stundin.is/grein/8717/eliza-reid-forsetafru-segir-sjalfsagt-ad-syna-islomskum-vinum-samstodu/ |archive-date=31 March 2019 |access-date=9 September 2019}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www2.unwto.org/press-release/2017-12-11/unwto-appoints-first-lady-iceland-special-ambassador-tourism-and-sustainabl|title=UNWTO appoints First Lady of Iceland as Special Ambassador for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals {{!}} World Tourism Organization UNWTO|website=www2.unwto.org|access-date=2019-09-09|archive-date=8 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808155920/http://www2.unwto.org/press-release/2017-12-11/unwto-appoints-first-lady-iceland-special-ambassador-tourism-and-sustainabl|url-status=dead}}

Reid has advocated for the recycling of clothing by making public appearances in clothing she purchased from local Red Cross stores.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-43228332|title=Icelandic first lady's charity shop chic|last=Coleman|first=Alistair|date=28 February 2018|work=BBC Elsewhere|access-date=9 September 2019}} She has spoken on several occasions about her disdain for shopping.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mbl.is/folk/frettir/2019/04/11/fot_eru_ekki_ahugamal_elizu/|title=Föt eru ekki áhugamál Elizu|website=www.mbl.is|access-date=2019-09-09}}

=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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2019/03/08/eliza_reid_heidrud_i_berlin/|title=Eliza Reid heiðruð í Berlín|website=www.mbl.is|access-date=2019-09-09}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.icelandreview.com/news/first-lady-discusses-gender-equality/|title=First Lady Discusses Gender Equality|website=Iceland Review|date=21 June 2017|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-09}} In March 2018, Reid gave a keynote speech at the Young Women Business Leaders.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ruv.is/frett/allar-konur-hafa-lent-i-hrutskyringu|title=Allar konur hafa lent í hrútskýringu|last=bjorgm|date=2017-06-20|website=RÚV|language=en|access-date=2019-09-09}}

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".{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Zoe |authorlink1=Zoe Williams |title=The G7 was the final straw – world leaders' wives should refuse to travel with their spouses |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/28/the-g7-was-the-final-straw-world-leaders-wives-should-refuse-to-travel-with-their-spouses |work=The Guardian |date=28 August 2019 |location=London}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.icelandreview.com/news/i-am-not-my-husbands-handbag-icelands-first-lady/|title="I Am Not My Husband's Handbag:" Iceland's First Lady|website=Iceland Review|date=3 September 2019|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-09}}{{cite web |last1=Reid |first1=Eliza |title=(Facebook post) |website=Facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/elizajeanreid/posts/736308926805947 |date=31 August 2019}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/opinion/first-ladies.html|title=Opinion {{!}} I'm a First Lady, and It's an Incredibly Weird Job|last=Reid|first=Eliza|date=2019-10-01|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-10|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Citation|title=Pulling Back the Curtain: Life as a First Lady {{!}} Eliza Reid {{!}} TEDxBeaconStreet|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEwcHT1eM9k|language=en|access-date=2020-01-10}}

On 4 September 2019, Reid was the subject of political and media speculation for wearing a white pantsuit{{Cite web|url=https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/politics_and_society/2019/09/05/colors_speak_loudly_during_pence_s_visit/|title=Colors Speak Loudly during Pence's Visit|website=Iceland Monitor|access-date=2019-09-09}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/11399/wearing-white-female-solidarity-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-white-suit-pantsuit|title=How Wearing White Became a Symbol of Female Solidarity|last=AnOther|date=2019-01-04|website=AnOther|language=en|access-date=2019-09-09}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/05/mike-pence-greeted-by-pride-flags-on-visit-to-iceland|title=Pride flags greet Mike Pence on arrival in Iceland|last=Walker|first=Amy|date=5 September 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=9 September 2019}} 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,{{Cite web |date=2021-10-13 |title=Iceland's First Lady Asks: Do Women Exist? |url=https://www.icelandreview.com/politics/icelands-first-lady-asks-do-women-exist/ |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Iceland Review |language=en-US}} asking "do women exist?"

=Patronages=

Alzheimer's Society
Eyrarrosin, an annual award for outstanding cultural projects in Iceland’s rural regions
Ferskir Vindar art exhibition
Pieta House for suicide- and self-harm prevention
Society of Lung Patients
SOS Children's Villages Iceland (Goodwill Ambassador)
United Nations Association Iceland
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.{{cite magazine |last=Boesveld |first=Sarah |date=28 June 2016 |title=The new first lady of Iceland is Canadian — and she's awesome |url=http://www.chatelaine.com/news/first-lady-iceland-canadian-eliza-reid/ |magazine=Chatelaine |access-date=1 December 2017}} She is the sister of Canadian writer Iain Reid.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/iain-reid-is-canadas-next-big-author/ |title=Iain Reid Is Canada's Next Big Author |last=Patch |first=Nick |date=August 8, 2018 |magazine=Vice |access-date=March 29, 2019}}

Honours

= Icelandic honours=

50px Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (1 August 2016)

=Foreign honours=

{{flag|Denmark}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog (24 January 2017)
{{flag|Finland}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (31 May 2017)
{{flag|Germany}}: Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (12 June 2019)
{{flag|Norway}}: Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (21 March 2017)
{{flag|Sweden}}:
Member Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star (17 January 2018){{cite web |url=https://x.cdn-expressen.se/images/e5/98/e59880fb761c4a62a6ebb71c32c8d7ec/annan/680.jpg |title=image |website=x.cdn-expressen.se}}{{Full citation needed|date=June 2020}}{{Failed verification|date=July 2021}}
Recipient of the Commemorative Golden Jubilee Medal of His Majesty The King (15 September 2023)

References

External links

{{cite AV media |first=Eliza |last=Reid |people= |date=6 January 2020 |title=Pulling Back the Curtain: Life as a First Lady |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEwcHT1eM9k |publisher=Ted Talks}}
[https://www.facebook.com/elizajeanreid Official Facebook page]