Vigdís accepted a book with translations of her plays on her 95th birthday

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, former President of Iceland, accepted a new edition of three previously unpublished translations of her plays at an event held in Veröld Vigdís’ House on 15 April, her 95th birthday. 

The book is titled “Frönsk framúrstefna: Sartre, Genet, Tardieu” (e. French Avant Garde: Sartre, Genet, Tardieu) and is published by the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages and the University of Iceland Press. It contains Vigdís’ translations of the plays “Læstar  dyr” (Huis clos) by Jean-Paul Sartre, “Vinnukonurnar” (Les Bonnes) by Jean Genet, and “Ég er kominn til að fá upplýsingar” (Le Guichet) Vigdís translated the three plays from French from 1961 to 1966, the first two for the theatre group Gríma and the third for the Reykjavík Theatre Company. 

The editors of the publication are Guðrún Kristinsdóttir, Irma Erlingsdóttir, and Ásdís R. Magnúsdóttir.  In a comprehensive introduction, they discuss all three plays and the French avant-garde in Icelandic theatre. The book is published with support from the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute Endowment Fund and the Icelandic Literature Centre.

It was Berglind Ásgeirsdóttir, a board member of the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute's Endowment Fund, who handed Vigdís and Halla Tómasdóttir, President of Iceland, the first copies of the book at a ceremonial event in Veröld on Vigdís' 95th birthday, attended by distinguished guests. Halla, Jón Atli Benediktsson, rector of the University of Iceland, and Ásdís Rósa Magnúsdóttir, the Chair of the Institute of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, addressed the ceremony, and Guðrún Kristinsdóttir and Irma Erlingsdóttir introduced the book. Furthermore, the actors and father and son, Stefán Jónsson and Haraldur Stefánsson, read from Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit. 

Alongside the birthday event at Veröld, a guided tour of the exhibition "Lend Me Wings:  The Life and Influence of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir" was offered at the Loftskeytastöðin, and a new exhibition on the lower floor of the Loftskeytastöðin titled "Vigdís' Attire" was opened, showcasing the former president's ceremonial attire.