Svana Friðriksdóttir

Svana Friðriksdóttir is an Icelandic educator who won the Nansen Refugee Award in 1971.

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Svana.
Svana Friðriksdóttir
Born1 January 1951
Hólmavík, Iceland
OccupationEducator
AwardsNansen Refugee Award

Early life and education

Svana was born in Hólmavík on the 1st January 1951 and moved to Kópavog at the age of thirteen years.[1]

While she studied at teacher's college she spent her evenings and weekend either working at Hotel Saga, or volunteering as a Scout.[1] After the Nigerian Civil War ended in 1970, awareness of the needs of refugees increased in Nordic countries and a movement called Refugees 71 started focussing on door to door fundraising, raising the equivalent of 520 million Icelandic króna.[1] Svana was selected as a representative of the Nordic youth fundraisers and was awarded the Nansen Refugee Award in 1971 when she was 19 years old.[1]

She received the award in Geneva from Sadruddin Aga Khan[2] at a ceremony where U Thant spoke.[3]

Life in the USA

After finishing her teaching training, Svana married university professor Jóhanni P. Malmquist and they both moved to Pennsylvania, USA.[1] In the USA, she studied art theory and architecture before working as a teacher, working until December 2021.[1] She has three children, plus grandchildren.[1]

References
  1. "Skátastúlkan sem fylgdi í fótspor forseta og kóngafólks". Upplýsingaskrifstofa Sameinuðu - Iceland (in Icelandic). 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  2. Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands- (4 Sep 1971). "Tímarit.is". timarit.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  3. Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands- (6 Oct 1971). "Tímarit.is". timarit.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2022-08-05.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.