Poul Johan Sundberg Michelsen (born 22 July 1944 in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

) is a Faroese business man and former politician. He was the leader of

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension wi ...

(Framsókn), which he and others established in 2011. Before the establishment of Progress, he was a member of People's Party (Fólkaflokkurin). In March 2020 he chose to leave the Parliament and ending his political career after struggling with sequelae of a stroke for some months.

Background

Michelsen grew up in Tórshavn and was active in sports. He was apprenticed as a commercial trainee at the Balslev company, which today is called Bygma-Balslev. Later, Kartni Winther and Torbjørn Sørensen bought the wholesale from Balslev and named it Kartni Winther. It was run by Kartni Winther, Torbjørn Sørensen and Poul Michelsen until Michelsen started his own wholesale business in 1974. Michelsen has been Finnish Consul General in the Faroe Islands since 2001. In January 2015 he was appointed the Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland.

Family

His parents are Paula, born Sundberg, from

Nes, Vágur Nes ( da, Næs) is a village on the Faroese island of Suðuroy located in the municipality of Vágur (Vágs kommuna). It is located west of Porkeri and east of Vágur. It should not be confused with another village by the same name on Eysturoy ...

Suðuroy Suðuroy (literally South Island, da, Suderø) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region (sýsla) comprises this island and Lítla ...

and Johan Michelsen from Tórshavn. He is married to the writer

Sólrún Michelsen Sólrún Michelsen (born Midjord in Tórshavn on 11 March 1948), grew up in Argir and is a Faroese writer and poet. She received the Barnamentanarheiðursløn Tórshavnar býráðs (Tórshavn Council's Children's Book Prize) in 2002 and the Faroe ...

, they have three children.

The Poul Michelsen company

Michelsen established a grocery shop in the basement of his home in 1974. The shop was a success and in 1977 it was established as a

joint-stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certificates ...

(Faroese: ''Partafelag'', short form P/F), named Poul Michelsen after him. In 2014 the company had 180 FTEs. In 1979 he opened the Poul Michelsen wholesales which now (2015) includes refrigeration, freezing and catering, the company PM-pluss, which has 80 employees, offers cleaning and catering. Poul Michelsen P/F owns the company Atlantic Flutningur, which has 14 vans and trucks from 3,5 tons up to 32 tons, whose primary goal is to deliver milk and other refrigerated or frozen goods as fresh as possible around the Faroe Islands.

Sports career

Michelsen was the Faroese champion in badminton in the men's single from 1966 to 1975 and Faroese champion in the men's double in 1968 and 1970–1974 together with Joan P. Midjord. Michelsen is also a former football player and has won the Faroese championship in football for

HB Tórshavn HB or Hb may refer to: Academia * H-b index, an extension of the h-index used in determining academic impact * H-B Woodlawn, a secondary education program in Arlington, Virginia, US * Hathaway Brown School, an all-girls private school in Shaker H ...

in 1971 (he scored both goals in the title decisive game away to KÍ Klaksvík, which ended 2-1) and the Faroe Islands Cup for HB Tórshavn in 1964, 1969, 1971 and 1972. He also won the Faroese championship in table tennis. He has represented the Faroe Islands national teams in football, badminton and table tennis. In November 2014 he was appointed honorary member of

Political career

Michelsen was elected mayor of

in 1981. In 1984 he was elected member of the

Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; da, Lagtinget) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm. The name literally means "''Law Thing''"—that is, a law assembly—and derives from Old Norse ''l ...

(the Faroese parliament) representing People's Party (Fólkaflokkurin). He remained MP until 1990 and mayor until 1992. He was elected for the parliament again in 2002 and remained a member until 2020. Michelsen was a member of

Fólkaflokkurin The Faroese People's Party – Radical Self-Government ( fo, Hin føroyski fólkaflokkurin – radikalt sjálvstýri) is a pro-Faroese independence Conservatism, conservative and Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political par ...

for around 40 years until 2010, when he left the party as a protest against the political course, which in his opinion was pointing in the opposite direction of the parties values.kringvarp.fo
/ref> He was known as much more liberal regarding social and economic affairs, and radical in the matter of independence from Denmark than his fellow party before his exit. In an interview with the Faroese newspaper ''

Sosialurin ''Sosialurin'' is a Faroese newspaper located in Tórshavn. It is written in the Faroese language. The newspaper, in partnership with Føroya Tele, a Faroese telecom, operates the websitin.fo History The newspaper published its first copy on 2 ...

'' he criticized what he saw as the parties resistance to reformArticle in Sosialurin published 18 October 2010, written by Uni Arge, title: Fólkaflokkurin er læstur fastur í blokeringum. Michelsen even criticized named politicians in the People's Party, especially a group of politicians with close relations to

Anfinn Kallsberg Anfinn Kallsberg (born 19 November 1947) is a Faroese politician, former prime minister, and the former leader of the People's Party ( fo, italic=yes, Fólkaflokkurin). First elected to the Faroese parliament in 1980 and consecutively since then ...

; which he considered as a prevention for reforms which a majority of the parti wanted to perform earlier. On 9 March 2011 he formed together with Hanna Jensen a new political party named Framsókn (Progress), which he describes as a liberal national party. Michelsen is the leader of Progress and parliamentary leader. In 2011 the party had two members elected, Poul Michelsen and

Janus Rein In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Ja ...

. Rein left the party one year later and joined

in September 2013.in.fo – Janus Rein í Fólkaflokkin
written by Jón Brian Hvidtfeldt 12 September 2013

Member of parliamentary standing committees

* 2011–2015 member of the Culture Committee * 2008–2011 member of the Justice Committee * 2004–2008 member of the Justice Committee * 2002–2004 member of the Justice Committee * 1988–1990 member of the Trade Committee * 1988–1990 member of the Justice Committee * 1986–1988 member of the Finance Committee * 1984–1986 member of the Environment Committee

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelsen, Poul Living people 1944 births Members of the Løgting Foreign Ministers of the Faroe Islands Ministers of Trade and Industry of the Faroe Islands Mayors of Tórshavn Faroese politicians People's Party (Faroe Islands) politicians Progress (Faroe Islands) politicians Faroese male badminton players Faroese sportsperson-politicians People from Tórshavn