Joen Pauli Højgaard Ellefsen (20 April 1936 – 24 August 2012) was a Faroese politician and member of the Union Party. He was

Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands The prime minister of the Faroe Islands is the head of government of the Faroe Islands. The Faroese language, Faroese term (plural: ) literally means "lawman" and originally referred to the legal function of lawspeaker. This old title was bro ...

from 1981 to 1985. Pauli Ellefsen was the eldest of eight children born to Sofia (née Højgaard) from

Rituvík Rituvík () is a village on the southeast side of the Faroese island of Eysturoy located in the municipality of Runavíkar. History Founded in 1873, its current church was built in 1955. The name Rituvík means ''Kittiwake Cove''. Its postal code ...

and Joen Elias Ellefsen from

Miðvágur Miðvágur (), is a village in the Faroe Islands on Vágar. It has been a municipality until 1 January 2009 when it fused with Sandavágur into Vága kommuna. Located on the south coast of the island of Vágar, Miðvágur is the largest town on t ...

. He was the brother of former Parliament member Svend Aage Ellefsen, and brother-in-law of former parliament member Jóannes Dalsgaard. He was married to Henni Egholm (née Rasmussen). He and his wife lived in

Hoyvík Hoyvík ( Danish: ''Højvig'') is a town in the Faroe Islands. It is part of the Tórshavn Municipality, and de facto is merged as a northern suburb of Tórshavn, the Faroese capital. History Hoyvík is believed to be a very old settlement. A ...

, near

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), 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 th ...

. Ellefsen worked as a fisherman from 1954 to 1956. After that, he worked as a telecommunications technician and later he attended a business school in Copenhagen. In 1969, he became a government surveyor. He lived in Denmark while he was studying and a few years after that, but in the early 1970s, he moved back to the Faroes with his family. He and

Jógvan Sundstein Jógvan Sundstein (; 25 May 1933 – 8 July 2024) was a Faroese politician and member of the Faroese People's Party. Sundstein was the son of Johanna Malena (born Jensen) and Hans Jacob Matras Sundstein from Tórshavn. He was married to Lydia ...

, who later became Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands, worked together as Chartered Accountants. In 1975 he started his own auditor firm. Ellefsen was first elected to the

Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; ) 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 ''lǫgþing ...

in 1974. From 1974 to 1990 he was the chairman of the Union Party, which advocates a stronger bond between

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and the Faroe Islands. From 1977 to 1987 and 1988 to 1990 he was one of the two Faroese members of the Danish

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

. From 1975 to 1976 and in 1979 he represented the Faroese in the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

Honor

Ellefsen was awarded the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

, Knight 1st Class (Ridder af 1. grad) on 7 May 1984.Borger.dk
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Personal life

Pauli and his wife had four children. Their youngest daughter, Gunn, is the current chairperson of the

Handball Federation of the Faroe Islands The Handball Federation of the Faroe Islands () (HSF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball in Faroe Islands. Founded in 1980, HSF is a member of European Handball Federation (EHF) and the International Handba ...

and through her he is the grandfather of Faroese international players

Elias Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated tradit ...

and Rói Ellefsen á Skipagøtu. Through his other daughter, he is the grandfather of the handball playing siblings

Pauli Pauli is a surname and also a Finnish masculine given name (a variant of Paul) and may refer to: __NOTOC__ People Surname * Andrea Pauli (born 1977), German developmental biologist and biochemist * Arthur Pauli (born 1989), Austrian ski jumper * ...

, Jana, and

Óli Mittún Óli Mittún (born 10 June 2005) is a Faroese handball player for GOG Håndbold and the Faroese national team. He participated at the 2022 European U-18 Championship, 2022 European U-20 Championship and the 2023 World U-19 Championship. H ...

References

* ''Løgtingið 150 - Hátíðarrit''. Tórshavn 2002, Volume 2, p. 276
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellefsen, Pauli 1936 births 2012 deaths People from Miðvágur Prime ministers of the Faroe Islands Union Party (Faroe Islands) politicians Members of the Folketing Faroese members of the Folketing Members of the Løgting Knights First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog