Poul Johan Sundberg Michelsen (born 22 July 1944 in

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 ...

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

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

(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 November 2014 he was appointed the Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland.

Family

His parents are Paula, born Sundberg, from

Nes, Vágur Nes () 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 (see Nes, E ...

Suðuroy Suðuroy (pronounced: �suːwʊrɔior �suːri ‘South Island’, ) 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) comprise ...

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. Poul also has a son named Victor Palsson who lives in Iceland and has a different birth mother.

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 (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

(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 ...

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 ; ) 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 ...

(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 () is a pro-Faroese independence conservative and conservative-liberal political party on the Faroe Islands led by Beinir Johannesen. Founded in 1939 by defectors from the Self-Government Pa ...

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, the Faroese public telecommunications company, operates the websitin.fo History The newspaper pub ...

'' 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 (19 November 1947 – 20 February 2024) was a Faroese politician who was prime minister and leader of the People's Party (). First elected to the Faroese parliament in 1980 and consecutively thereafter, Kallsberg served as Fish ...

; 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 Hanna Jensen (born 19 February 1973 in Leirvík) is a Faroese high school teacher and a liberal - conservative politician (Progress). Biography After finishing high school, Hanna Jensen studied Faroese language and literature at the Univer ...

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 Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, myth, Janus ( ; ) is the List of Roman deities, god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as ...

. 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 20th-century Danish sportsmen