Kuupik Vandersee Kleist | |
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4th Prime Minister of Greenland | |
In office 12 June 2009 – 5 April 2013 |
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Monarch | Margrethe II |
Preceded by | Hans Enoksen |
Succeeded by | Aleqa Hammond |
Chairman of the OCT for Greenland |
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In office 23 January 2012 – 25 September 2012 |
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Deputy | Jens B. Frederiksen |
Leader of the Inuit Ataqatigiit | |
In office 10 June 2007 – 31 March 2014 |
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Deputy | Aqqaluaq B. Egede |
Preceded by | Josef Motzfeldt |
Succeeded by | Sara Olsvig |
Member of the Greenlandic Parliament | |
Assumed office 8 February 2002 |
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Member of the Danish Parliament | |
In office 20 November 2001 – 13 November 2007 |
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Member of the Greenlandic Parliament | |
In office 1995–1996 |
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Minister of Public Works and Transport | |
In office 1991–1995 |
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Prime Minister | Lars Emil Johansen |
Personal details | |
Born |
Jakob Edvard Kuupik Kleist 31 March 1958 Qullissat, Greenland |
Nationality | Greenlandic |
Political party | Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) |
Spouse(s) | Aviaaja Vandersee Kleist (2012–present) |
Children | 5 |
Alma mater | University of Roskilde |
Website | ia.gl/kuupik-kleist |
Jakob Edvard Kuupik Kleist (born 31 March 1958) is a Greenlandic politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Greenland between 2009 and 2013. A member of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, he was the first Prime Minister not affiliated with Siumut.
Kleist was born on 31 March 1958 to a Danish telegraphist and a Greenlandic mother in Qullissat, and was raised by his aunt and uncle. He attended primary school in Qullissat from 1966 until 1972 when the mining town was abandoned and then he attended lower secondary school in Sisimiut until 1975. When he was 17, he was sent to Denmark, alone and with no prior knowledge of Danish. He attended the Birkerød State School in Denmark from 1975 to 1978. Kleist graduated from Roskilde University in 1983 with a master's degree in social work (socionom). He taught journalism in Nuuk from 1988 to 1991.
In 1996, Kleist was appointed the Director of the Foreign Office of the Greenland Home Rule Government (Direktør for hjemmestyrets udenrigskontor). He was a Member of the Danish Parliament from 20 November 2001 to 13 November 2007, representing the Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party. IA will be the first party to govern the autonomous Danish territory under an expanded home rule agreement known as "self-rule" (selvstyre). While the self-rule agreement has been referred to a step towards eventual full independence from Denmark, Kleist's administration is expected to put "any push for independence [...] on the backburner", given his pledge to focus on social issues such as alcoholism, domestic violence and a high suicide rate.