Casimir Bergen
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Casimir Bergen MP | |
|---|---|
 Casimir Bergen in 2024 | |
| Chancellor of Liberto-Ancapistan | |
| Assumed office 26 May 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Ameus Grey |
| Leader of Progress | |
| Assumed office 10 November 2018 | |
| Deputy | Indra McKarin |
| Preceded by | Kajal Firat |
| Executive Councillor of Liberto-Ancapistan | |
| In office 2 April 2020 – 26 May 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Ameus Grey |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Member of Parliament for Dewisburgh Central | |
| Assumed office 6 July 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Miran Abbas |
| Majority | 35,573 (40.6%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 January 1985 (age 40) Dewisburgh, Peravên Far Province, Liberto-Ancapistan |
| Political party | Progress |
| Spouse | Louise Sieda (m. 2012) |
| Children | 1 |
| Residence(s) | Mala Komaria, Dibiha Mezigh, Liberty City |
| Alma mater | Liberty City University |
Casimir Bergen (born 2 January 1985) is a Liberto-Ancapistanian politician, author and former journalist who has served as the Chancellor of Liberto-Ancapistan since 26 May 2020. The leader of Progress since 2018, Bergen has represented Dewisburgh Central as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2014. In addition to his political activities, Bergen is known for his authorship of several novels and short story collections, including Yekîtî, The Grey Mountain, and Duhamos.
Bergen became a freelance journalist after leaving the navy in 2008, working for various regional publications and joining the Liberty Action Party (later Progress). In 2010 he published his first novel, The Sea, which was nominated for several awards. Bergen gained national acclaim after his third novel, Yekîtî, was awarded 'best novel' by the Silosovia University Book Awards in 2015. Becoming a prominent voice within his political party, he was elected leader by a large majority in 2018.
Bergen's unconditional support for the 2019 anti-austerity protests earned him praise and condemnation across the country. He led his party to its first victory for over 80 years in the 2020 general election. Forming a coalition with the Libertarian Party, he briefly became a member of the Executive Council until its abolition and replacement with the position of Chancellor, to which he was elected. During his Chancellorship, Bergen has overseen major reforms to the welfare system, introducing universal basic income, taxation, introducing a land value tax, and Liberto-Ancapistanian foreign policy, adopting an internationalist posture and joining the UFT. Opposition to his pro-market trade policies resulted in the breakaway of the Social Democratic Party from Progress in 2022, though in the 2022 general election he was able to remain in power with reduced support. In 2023, Bergen was briefly overthrown during the Acadian Crisis, but was restored in a following pro-democracy counter-coup. Bergen won a third term in office in 2024, and in 2025 announced that he would step down from his position at the 2026 general election.
Early life and education
Casimir Bergen was born on 2 January 1985 in Dewisburgh, Peravên Far Province, and grew up in the city's Narushian Quarter. His father was a dockwork supervisor and mother a customs official at the Port of Dewisburgh. He has two siblings, Ismail, born in 1982 and Erna, born in 1989. Bergen's family may be traced back to the Fayre Islands, with great-grandfather Jens Bergen migrating to Dewisburgh in 1906, though he is largely of Basaquastanian descent. He was reportedly named after 19th century composer Casimir Boric, whom his family admired.
After leaving tertiary school in 2003, he began studying at Liberty City University, earning a first-class BA in modern history. There he contributed to student newspaper The Little Light, writing a regular column which commented on the media interests of various political personalities and related developments. After earning his BA, he joined the Liberto-Ancapistan Maritime Self-Defence Force (LAMSDF), being stationed on the frigate LAS Xalasune at the Gronban Naval Station in the Fayre Islands. After two years Bergen left the LAMSDF in order to pursue a career in journalism.
Literary career
Journalism
In 2008, Bergen briefly worked as a receptionist at the Museum of Dewisburgh, and began writing frequent letters to several newspapers, both locally and nationally. After several months, he attracted the attention of the Peravên Far Metro, a regional newspaper operating in several cities in northern Basaquastan, and was invited to join its writing team; Bergen declined, instead offering to write articles on several local and political topics. This was accepted. After Bergen wrote an article for a national newspaper, the All-Basaquastanian Times, he began to pursue journalism as a career. He first came to national attention later that year, in November 2008, when an opinion article published in the Peravên Far Metro arguing for the introduction of a land value tax was mentioned in parliament by the leader of Liberty Action.
Bergen would continue to write for various newspapers throughout his writing career, becoming an established figure in the news media establishment and contributing both to political and literary areas. As Chancellor of Liberto-Ancapistan, he has written articles for several newspapers defending his government's conduct.
Early novels
According to journalist Ismail Alsowa, Bergen told him about his plans for writing a children's novel in late 2008, but did not publicly announce his work on the book until it was published. Bergen stated after the book's publishing that he had dropped plans for the work to be a children's novel early on, believing it to be too restrictive, but that the core of the novel was the same. In May 2010, The Sea was published by Stunala Books. A historical novel set in the Fayre islands, it was partly based on Bergen's experiences in Fayre in the navy, and already included features strongly associated with his later works, including limited fantastical elements, multiple protagonists and a physical journey as the central focus of the plot. The book reached the All-Basaquastanian Times' bestseller list and was praised by critics, leading Bergen to quickly begin writing his second novel.