Johansen was chairman of the political party Siumut (Forward) between 1987 and 1997, seated in the Landsting from its creation in 1979. Prior to the creation of the Landsting, he represented Greenland in the Parliament of Denmark from 1973, a position he regained in 2001 and held until 2011. He was also President of the West Nordic Council from 2015 to 2016.[1]
Early life
He was born in Illorsuit, a small settlement near Uummannaq in the Qaasuitsup municipality, as son of commercial agent Kristian Johansen and district midwife Elisabeth Johansen;[2] his mother had been the first female country council member from 1959 to 1975.
In 1970, Johansen finished his education as a teacher, and the following year he was elected for the Greenland country council, the most powerful local authority in Greenland prior to the creation of the Landsting.
