Helgi Johanneson (June 21, 1906 – March 7, 1994) was an Icelandic-American politician who served as the

Attorney General of North Dakota The North Dakota Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the North Dakota state government. The Attorney General's office represents the state government in court cases and issues opinions of points of law upon request. Drew Wrigley was appo ...

from 1963 to 1973.

Early life

Helgi was the youngest child of Icelandic Immigrants Benidikt and Bóthildur (Guðjónsdóttir) Johanneson, who immigrated to the United States in 1873 and 1890 respectively. Helgi's father died when he was only 10 years old.

Personal life

In 1930, Helgi married Ann Prokosch. Her parents, Peter and Mary, had immigrated from Bohemia in the late 19th century. Helgi and Ann went on to have 4 children and were married for 64 years until Helgi's death in 1994.

Education

Helgi attended the University of North Dakota and later the William Mitchell School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Political career

Helgi served as the

North Dakota Attorney General The North Dakota Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the North Dakota state government. The Attorney General's office represents the state government in court cases and issues opinions of points of law upon request. Drew Wrigley was appo ...

from 1963 to 1973. He had previously served as the State's Attorney in

Pembina County Pembina County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. At the 2020 census its population was 6,844. The county seat is Cavalier. History For thousands of years, various indigenous peoples inhabited the area along the Pembina and Red r ...

. As Attorney General, Helgi was an advocate for state's rights, particularly as pertaining to Civil Rights Legislation, as evidenced by a 1963 opinion given by Helgi to the

United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution is one of eight subcommittees within the Senate Judiciary Committee. The subcommittee was best known in the 1970s as the committee of Sam Ervin, whose investigations and lobbying — together wi ...

in which he stated the following: ''“I have read S. 1117 and S. 1219 which you enclosed in your letter. While I have not been in particular contact with the record and accomplishments of the Commission on Civil Rights, I might submit that I do not particularly support either of the bills. Of necessity, I can only speak for myself; however, our experience in this field has been very limited. We do have civil rights statutes in force and there have been a few successful prosecutions. This leads me to the conclusion that we, in North Dakota, do not have the problems that some sister states might; consequently, I see no compelling need for a Federal authority in this area. Of course, merely setting up the Commission does not solve the problem and the ultimate decision lies with the Congress.”'' Following Helgi's death, former Governor of North Dakota

Arthur A. Link Arthur Albert Link (May 24, 1914 – June 1, 2010) was an American politician of the North Dakota Democratic Party, and later the Democratic-NPL. He served as a U.S. Representative from 1971 to 1973 and as the 27th Governor of North ...

spoke about Helgi, saying that “he was a dedicated public servant. He gave of himself unselfishly to those things that had to do with issues that were good for the state of North Dakota and he will be missed very dearly”

References

1906 births 1994 deaths American people of Icelandic descent North Dakota Attorneys General North Dakota Republicans People from Pembina County, North Dakota Place of birth missing {{NorthDakota-politician-stub