Jenis Kristian av Rana (born 7 January 1953 in Trongisvágur) is a Faroese medical practitioner and politician, serving as leader of the Centre Party since 2001. He served as minister of Foreign Affairs and Culture of the Faroe Islands from 2019 until his party's withdrawal from government in November 2022. Jenis av Rana has been elected to 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 '' ...

(the Faroese parliament) since 1994 and has been parliamentary leader for his party since then. His strong

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

beliefs, particularly towards LGBT rights, have made him a controversial figure in Faroese politics, especially when he refused a dinner invitation from the then-Icelandic prime minister

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (; born 4 October 1942) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2009 to 2013. She became active in the trade union movement, serving as an officer. Elected as an MP from 1978 to 2013 ...

due to her sexuality.

Early life and career

Jenis av Rana is the son of Aslaug and Dánjal av Rana, former mayor of Tvøroyri. He is married and has three children. After finishing high school, he worked as a teacher in Tvøroyri and

Froðba Froðba ( da, Frodebø) is a village located farthest out on the north brink of Trongisvágsfjørður, an inlet on the east coast of the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. History The village has eventually merged with the harbour-city of ...

1972–1974. He studied in

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra G ...

and graduated in medicine in 1983. Jenis av Rana has been working as a medical practitioner 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 ...

since 1995. He is a preacher and radio host and board member of the Christian radio station Lindin, which started to broadcast on 21 January 2001. On 16 September 2019 he was appointed as minister of foreign affairs and culture of the Faroe Islands in the government of

Bárður á Steig Nielsen Bárður á Steig Nielsen (; born 16 April 1972) is a Faroese politician and businessman who serves as leader of the Union Party since 2015 and was prime minister from 2019 to 2022. He is also goalkeeper of the VÍF Vestmanna handball team and ...

. On 8 November 2022 he was dismissed from his position as minister of foreign affairs and culture after stating that he could not support Conservative People's Party leader

Søren Pape Poulsen Søren Pape Poulsen (born 31 December 1971) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Danish Conservative Party. He has been the leader of the party since 2014. From 2016 to 2019 he served as Justice Minister of Denmark, an ...

, who is openly gay, as Prime Minister of Denmark due to his sexuality. Av Rana subsequently pulled Centre's support of á Steig Nielsen's government, triggering a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Jenis av 1953 births Living people People from Trongisvágur Members of the Løgting Centre Party (Faroe Islands) politicians 21st-century Danish politicians Foreign Ministers of the Faroe Islands