Marita Petersen

Marita Petersen
Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
In office
18 January 1993 – 15 September 1994
Preceded by Atli Pætursson Dam
Succeeded by Edmund Joensen
Personal details
Born 21 October 1940
Vágur, Suðuroy, Faroe Islands
Died 26 August 2001 (aged 60)
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
Political party Føroya Javnaðarflokkurin
Spouse(s) Kári Petersen
Profession Teacher

Marita Petersen (IPA: [ˌmɛaɹɪta ˈpʰeːʰtɛɹsɛn]) (née Johansen (IPA: [ˌjoˈhanːsɛn]); 21 October 1940 in Vágur – 26 August 2001) was the first and to date only female Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands and the first female speaker of the Løgting (Parliament).[1] She was elected to the Løgting in 1988 for Javnaðarflokkurin (The Socialist Party).[2] In January 1993, she was elected to the post of Prime Minister which she held until September 1994. Later, she became chairman of the parliament from 1994 to 1995. She was Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands in a very difficult time with economic crisis.[3] Marita Petersen died of cancer in 2001.

Career

Education and work

She was a school teacher, educated from the Hellerup seminarium in Denmark in 1964. She worked as a teacher in Copenhagen and Esbjerg from 1964–67, in Tórshavnar kommunuskúli (one of the public schools in Tórshavn) from 1967 to 1989. From 1989 to 1994 she was leader of the teaching department of Landsskúlafyrisitingin 1989-94, leader of the Sernámsfrøðiliga ráðgevingin 1994-98 and from 1998 until her death she was manager for the Sernámsdepilin, which is a school for children with mentally disabilities.

Political career

References

  1. ↑ Demokratia.fo
  2. ↑ Løgtingið 150, HÁTÍÐARRIT, 150 ár liðin, síðani Løgtingið varð endurstovnað(in Faroese, written for the 150 anniversary of the Løgting, published in 2002), page 337
  3. ↑ Ibnlive.in.com Haven on Earth: 6 places secure from financial crisis- 1. Faroe Islands, Denmark