Kjartan Jóhannsson (19 December 1939 – 13 November 2020) was an Icelandic diplomat, politician, cabinet minister, and professor.

Kjartan was ambassador of Iceland to, among others, the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, as well as the UN and other international organizations in Geneva.

[1][2] After graduating from Reykjavík Junior College, Kjartan went to Stockholm and studied civil engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan), receiving an M.S.

in industrial engineering in 1965 before continuing on a stipend from the Icelandic Scientific Fund and completing a PhD in the field of operations research.

[3] Kjartan taught at Reykjavík Junior College during 1963 as well as working part-time for an engineering consultancy and the Icelandic Road Administration from 1963 to 1965.

Kjartan was elected to the executive council of the Social Democratic Party of Iceland in 1972 and as its vice chairman in 1974.

Most notably he put a total stop on capelin fishing at the point where scientists evaluated the remaining spawning stock had been brought down to 400 thousand tons.

[11] As minister of commerce, in 1979, Kjartan abolished import restrictions on confectionery, bread and biscuits, making their trade free, which caused some turmoil initially.

In a ministerial meeting in Geneva on 16 June 1993 the ministers of the EFTA countries Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein decided to appoint Kjartan the next secretary general of EFTA, making him the first Icelander to head an international organization.