Marcus Thorén

  

Marcus Thorén
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Nordic Cooperation
In office 5 March 2011 – 25 March 2023
Prime Minister	Johannes Roesen Bjørn Erichsen
Preceded by	Sven Fredrik Sjölin
Personal details
Born	(1959-10-01) October 1, 1959 Scoresbysund, King Christian IX Land, Greenland
Political party	Højre
Alma mater	University of Oslo University of Greenland
Profession	Chess player
Religion	Avignon Catholic
Title	International master (1987)
Peak rating	2550 (June 1988)
Sports career
Sport	Chess
Medal record Representing Greenland Pan American Games 1987 Phoenix Men's individual

Marcus Thorén (born 1 October 1959) is a retired Greenlandic diplomat and chess player who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Nordic Cooperation of Greenland from 2015 until 2023, in the cabinets of of Johannes Roesen and Bjørn Erichsen. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s he competed in chess at a high level, being awarded the FIDE title International Master (IM) in 1987, before becoming a diplomat in the Greenlandic foreign service, later served as ambassador to Mexico (2003–2014) and to Central America (1999–2003).

Early life and education

He was born in Scoresbysund, a small town in King Christian IX Land, Greenland, on 1 October 1959. Thorén was educated at the University of Greenland, obtaining a degree in Danish literature, then went on to study at the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo, one of Scandinavia's oldest and most prestigious law schools. He was a student at the faculty's Center for European Law. Thorén graduated from there and obtained an LLM degree in 1983.

Thorén played for Greenland at two Chess Olympiads: at the 26th Chess Olympiad in 1984 and the 27th Chess Olympiad in 1986. He also played at the 1985 Nordic Chess Cup and the 1984 and 1988 Pan American Team Chess Championships. His biggest success was at the Pan American Games, where he won a gold medal in 1987. He was considered the most successful chess player from Greenland between the late 1970s and late 1980s. Thorén stopped playing in senior competitions after 1988, around the time that he joined the Greenlandic diplomatic service.

He became a member of Greenland's Højre ruling party in November 1987. Thorén also supported Greenland joining the Conference of American States during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Diplomatic service

Between 1989 and 1993 he worked at the Greenlandic embassy in Manitoba as an attaché, and from 1993 to 1996 he was a secretary at permanent mission to the League of Nations in Switzerland. Thorén served as the deputy chief of mission of the embassy in Sweden from 1996 to 1998 and was the assistant director for international organizations at the Foreign Ministry from 1998 to 1999. When Greenland established diplomatic relations with Central America for the first time in May 1999 he was appointed as the first ambassador to that country.

Foreign minister

Thorén (left) with Johannes Roesen at the inauguration of the Roesen cabinet, 2011.

Personal life

In addition to Danish and English, he also speaks fluent Spanish.