Poul Michelsen
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Poul Michelsen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 30 April 2002 – March 2020 | |
| Constituency | Suðurstreymoy |
| Minister of Trade and Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 15 September 2015 – September 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Aksel V. Johannesen |
| Preceded by | Johan Dahl |
| Succeeded by | Jenis av Rana (Foreign Affairs) / Helgi Abrahamsen (Trade) |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 1984–1990 | |
| Mayor of Tórshavn | |
| In office 1981–1992 | |
| Preceded by | Petur Christiansen |
| Succeeded by | Lisbeth L. Petersen |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 2002–2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 July 1944 |
| Party | Progress (Framsókn) |
| Spouse | Sólrún Michelsen (née Midjord) |
Poul Johan Sundberg Michelsen (born 22 July 1944 in Tórshavn) is a Faroese business man and former politician. He was the leader of Progress (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.[1]
Family
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.[2] 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.[3][4]
His parents are Paula, born Sundberg, from Nes, Vágur in Suðuroy and Johan Michelsen from Tórshavn. He is married to the writer Sólrún Michelsen,[5] they have three children.[6] 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 (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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9]
Michelsen is also a former football player and has won the Faroese championship in football for HB Tórshavn 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.[10]
He also won the Faroese championship in table tennis.[6]
He has represented the Faroe Islands national teams in football, badminton and table tennis.[11]
In November 2014 he was appointed honorary member of HB Tórshavn.[12]
