Sofija Anasdohter
The Honorable Sofija Anasdohter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Thingspeaker of Azmara | |
| Assumed office 13 July 2020 | |
| President | Maarija Ryginsdohter |
| Preceded by | Eryk Jorśsun |
| Leader of the Workers' Party | |
| Assumed office 13 July 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Eryk Jorśsun |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 19 May 2017 – 13 July 2020 | |
| Preceded by | some centre-right guy with a dumb frisian patronymic |
| Succeeded by | some centre-left girl with a dumb frisian matronymic |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 13, 1981 Heuthenberg, Haadland, Azmara |
| Political party | Workers' Party (2013-present) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent (before 2013) |
| Spouse | Mâþijas Freidrikssun (m. 2014) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Nysted Place, Stefansburg, Aalmsted, Azmara |
| Alma mater | University of Cârlesby |
Sofija Anasdohter (born Zofija Anasdochter van Heuthenberg, 13 March 1981) is an Azmaran politician who has served as Thingspeaker of Azmara and Leader of the Worker's Party since July 2020, succeeding Eryk Jorśsun. Prior to this, she served as Home Secretary in Jorśsun's government between May 2017 and July 2020.
Anasdohter was born in Heuthenberg in the province of Haadland in 1981 and studied Social Policy at the University of Cârlesby, graduating with a master's degree in 2004 and becoming a welfare case manager in her hometown. After a few years, she entered local politics, successfully running a campaign to become Mayor of Heuthenberg in 2009 and serving for one four-year term before moving into national politics in 2014 and becoming a Workers' Party member of the Folksmot for her home province.
She became a key advisor to Eryk Jorśsun's ultimately successful 2015 leadership campaign and as a result became a key member of his advisory team and was repaid by gaining the position of Home Secretary upon the victory of the Workers' Party in the 2017 election. As Home Secretary she provided over the recognition of the minority languages of IJssentaal and Hytklifer, as well as the establishment of autonomy for the provinces of Hytklif and Haadland, as well as making progressive reforms to law enforcement.
After Eryk Jorśsun announced his intention to step down as Thingspeaker and Leader of the Workers' Party in the aftermath of the 2020 election, she quickly became favourite to succeed him as leader of the party and played an active role in coalition negotiations. By July, it was announced that she would succeed Jorśsun in both roles and lead a three-party coalition with the Green Party and The Radicals as coalition partners, and on the 13th she and her new cabinet were sworn in.
Anasdohter has been described by international media as being a social democrat and as coming from the left of her party, yet the Aalmsted Herald contrasted her with the traditional left of the party, stating she represented a new trend on the Azmaran left distinct from the middle-class professional socialism of the 1990's and 2000's and of the trade union-aligned old left of Jorśsun's cabinet.
Early life and education
Anasdohter was born Zofija Anasdochter van Heuthenberg in Heuthenberg, Haadland in 1981 to IJssentaal-speaking parents who had split up before her birth; as a result, she was raised largely by her mother, Ana Zimoensdochter van Heuthenberg, who worked as a bartender at a local beer hall in town and often struggled to manage both her work at the beer hall and her care of Zofija. Anasdohter thus spent significant time in daycares and with her mother's relatives; she spent significant amounts of time with her mother's sister and has thus described her cousins as "being akin to brothers" with the amount of time she spent with them.
She was educated at Haavenside Andeskoel for primary education and at Heuthenberg Galukskoel for secondary education, where she excelled in subjects such as sociology, anthropology and psychology. She was encouraged by her teachers to apply for a course at the Aahtbund universities, yet, unsure whether she would fit in with the culture of the universities and wanting a more practical degree, applied to the University of Cârlesby in the capital of Haadland, studying for a master's degree in Social Policy and taking a year abroad at Newstead University in Borland. As a student, she was not particularly active in political circles, yet participated in a few protests and was active in the university's women's football team and some cultural societies.
Early career
Professional career
Mayor of Heuthenberg
Member of the Folksmot
Home Secretary
Thingspeaker of Azmara
Political views
Anasdohter has been described by many as being a social democrat or as a democratic socialist, citing her strong support for many of the left-wing economic reforms of her predecessor in office. The Aalmsted Herald described her as a "non-partisan progressive", citing both her strong support for social reform in many areas such as in educational, environmental, constitutional and law enforcement policy and her expressed admiration for historical political figures ranging from left-liberals to libertarian socialists.
She is most well known for her support of Azmaran federalism, being the impetus behind the 2019 constitutional reforms to grand autonomy to provinces such as her native Haadland and Hytklif and also the reforms to give official recognition to their national languages. This issue, combined with her strong support for environmentalism and third-wave feminism, has been connected to her strong relationships with her coalition partners - she was one of the most sceptical voices over the Tuaisceart-Süd II pipeline within the Workers' Party and her government made headlines due to her and the leaders of her coalition partners - Ana Freidriksdohter and Isabela Krysdohter - being female.
In terms of foreign policy, Anasdohter has advocated pro-Euclean views, emphasising co-operation between centre-left forces across Eastern Euclea. However, she has stated her wish for any united Euclea to be a "Euclea of Regions" as opposed to a union dominated by Estmere, Gaullica and Werania. She has also expressed criticism of the more interventionist policies of Reginald Wilton-Smyth and Otto von Hößlin, especially with regards to intervention in Tsabara, expressing her wish for the ECDTO to limit itself to humanitarian missions within the country, and has also expressed concern about the potential of a refugee crisis, stating that she did not want northeastern Euclea's infrastructure to be "overwhelmed" by such an event.
Anasdohter has also expressed a desire to increase the role of comprehensive schools within the Azmaran education system, stating that the two-tier system of secondary education was "failing" to overcome income disparities in achievement, and has called for more accountability in law enforcement, stating that many processes officers took were "not transparent to the communities they serve".
Personal life
While in her final year at the University of Cârlesby, Anasdohter met artist and writer Mâþijas Freidrikssun. The couple started dating on and off in 2004, and have lived with each other since 2009, getting married in 2014 at a chapel in Heuthenberg. On the 17th July 2018, Anasdohter gave birth to twins Hasel and Birk. The latter of the two has profound hearing loss, as a result Anasdohter has knowledge in Tâjkensprek, the national sign language of Azmara.
Anasdohter is an avid cyclist and amateur landscape illustrator - she spends significant amounts of her personal time cycling around the Azmaran landscape with her husband and has published some of her illustrations on her website. She is also a fan of romantic comedies and of alternative and indie rock.