Athlon Strauss
Athlon Strauss | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, November 2013 | |
| 4th Governor of Tor Pendente | |
| Assumed office 6 January 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Alex Specter |
| Preceded by | Filippo Lanzarini |
| 5th Minister of Economy and Treasury | |
| Assumed office 23 June 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Alex Specter |
| Preceded by | Alexander Reinhardt |
| Rector of the Graystone University | |
| Assumed office 19 March 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Marco Bluttemberg |
| 3rd Secretary of the Treasury and Minister of Economic Affairs | |
| In office 7 January 2010 – 10 January 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Alexander Reinhardt Nicolò Alvisi |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Schneider |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Reinhardt |
| 1st St.Charlian Consul to Italy | |
| Assumed office 5 January 2009 | |
| First Ambassador | James Lunam |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| 1st Secretary of the Treasury and Minister of Economic Affairs | |
| In office 23 November 2008 – 5 January 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Alexander Reinhardt |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Heinrich Schneider |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Athlon Frederick Strauss 12 June 1993 Bologna, Italy |
| Citizenship | St.Charlian |
| Residence | Tor Pendente, St.Charlie |
Athlon Frederick Strauss (born 12 June 1993) is a St.Charlian diplomat and politician currently serving as the Republic's Consul to Italy and as fifth Minister of Economy and Treasury.
Strauss was involved with St.Charlie since it's founding, and took part in the November Revolution. As a reward for his participation, he was nominated Secretary of the Treasury and Minister of Economic Affairs by Alexander Reinhardt in November 2008. In January 2009 he was made Consul to Italy and was relieved from his ministerial post after the signing of the Branson Act.
Following the general elections of 2010 he was returned to the Secretariat of the Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, was reconfirmed to his posting after the general elections of 2011 by newly-elected Prime Minister Nicolò Alvisi and again reconfirmed by new Prime Minister Reinhardt following the general elections of 2012.
In August 2009, Strauss laid the foundations for a reworked Bank of St.Charlie, the first micronational bank to offer functioning online banking services.
From the 19 March 2013, Strauss is the Rector of the Graystone University.
Biography
Strauss was born in Bologna (Italy) on June 12 1993 to Franco and Maurizia Strauss. He was raised in Castenaso, a small town in Italy's Emilia Romagna region located in close proximity of Bologna. He met Alexander Reinhardt through their mutual acquaintance James Lunam in January 2008; and they developed their friendship through Skype.
St.Charlie
Early Days
After taking part in the November Revolution, Strauss offered St.Charlian leader Alexander Reinhardt to take part in new executive and was nominated Secretary of the Treasury and Minister of Economic Affairs on November 23, 2008. On January 5th 2009, he was removed from his ministerial positions and nominated Consul to Italy.[1] Although no longer at the helm of the St.Charlian economy, during 2009 he worked to create a virtual banking system for the Bank of St.Charlie, and the project came to fruition on August 29, 2009.[2] The new system enabled people to create accounts, manage their savings and transfer money to other accounts.[2]
Strauss also employed his IT skills by helping in the construction of the various official St.Charlian websites, and was singled out and thanked personally by Reinhardt in the St.Charlian Observer on November 23, 2009.[3] He also wrote an algorithm to plot the exchange rate between the St.Charlian Pianeta and the Euro.[4]
The Economy
On January 7 2010 Strauss was returned to his previous postings of Secretary of the Treasury and Minister of Economic Affairs by Alexander Reinhardt.[5] During the year Strauss finalized his work on the Bank of St.Charlie, creating an efficient and completely functional site.[6] In late February, he proposed to link bonuses for St.Charlian citizens with their school grades, an initiative which was supported by most politicians but Leonard Von Sternberg. Even though there was a majority favorable to the idea, the project never took off.
His only piece of legislation in 2010 was the Pianeta Reform Bill, co-authored with former Secretary of the Treasury Heinrich Schneider. The bill strengthened the Pianeta within the Commonwealth and laid the basis for a monetary union in the Commonwealth.[7] It also replaced Strauss's previous mathematically-derived Euro-Pianeta exchange rate in favor of a fixed peg of 1 to 1.[7]
On January 8 2011, newly-elected Prime Minister Nicolò Alvisi confirmed his post as Secretary of the Treasury and Minister of Economic Affairs.[8] In January, King Ciprian of Juclandia was the first foreign micronationalist to take interest in Strauss's banking system, asking if Strauss was willing to share the coding required for its functioning.[9] While he refused to reveal the inner workings of the bank, Strauss did promote the idea of an intermicronational economy, although the consensus that was reached placed more emphasis on first getting the St.Charlian economy going.[10] At the moment, however, Strauss has not yet published an official Budget for 2011, which is required by St.Charlian law every February.[11]
Another of Strauss's innovations was the creation of a portal for the St.Charlian Parliament,[12] which however suffered some technical hiccups and is not in use at the moment. Strauss also attended the marriage of Prime Minister Alvisi in Tor Pendente on July 2, 2011.[13]
Controversy
In September 2009 Strauss found himself at the center of a controversy concerning homophobia in the Ambassadorial Council. The issue was reported by influential St.Charlian journalist Nick Maggiore in an article on the St.Charlian Observer published on the 17th.[14] During a discussion on gay marriage Strauss claimed he was against it "...for reasons of dignity. (come on, we all know gay marriage is against nature)" and stated that he was "personally against homosexuality (otherwise why would men and women exist?)".[15] Maggiore criticized Strauss and fellow diplomat James Lunam for their "Middles Ages" views and suggested "the St.Charlian Ambassadorial Council [should learn] another chapter of diplomacy and moral values."[14] However, in an editorial response to an Erusian article in May 2010, Maggiore claimed he did not view Strauss simply as a "homophobic bigot" and praised his excellent work in the Parliament.[16]
| Preceded by: | Secretary of the Treasury and Minister of Economic Affairs | Succeded by: | 
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Office Created ; Heinrich Schneider ; Alexander Reinhardt | 23 Nov 2008 - 5 Jan 2009 ; 7 Jan 2010 - 10 Jan 2013 ; 23 Jun 2013 - | Heinrich Schneider ; Alexander Reinhardt ; Present |
| Preceded by: | Consul in Italy | Succeded by: | 
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Office created | 5 Jan 2009 - | Present |
References
- ↑ Official St.Charlie site: History
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The St.Charlian Observer: Federal Bank of St.Charlie now goes online - 28 Aug 2009
- ↑ The St.Charlian Observer: Just a quick word... - 23 Nov 2009
- ↑ St.Charlian Stock Exchange
- ↑ Official St.Charlie Forums: Presentazione II° Governo Reinhardt (Italian) - 7 Jan 2010
- ↑ Bank of St.Charlie website
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Official St.Charlie Forums: Disposizioni in materia di riforma del Pianeta St.Charliano (Italian) - 20 Oct 2010
- ↑ Official St.Charlie Forums: Primo Governo Alvisi - First Administration Alvisi [ITA-ENG] - 8 January 2011
- ↑ Official St.Charlie Forums: Bank's Site - 16 Jan 2011
- ↑ Official St.Charlie Forums: Economia intermicronazionale (Italian) - 16 Jan 2011
- ↑ Official St.Charlie Forums: Disposizioni in materia di riforma dei Ministeri degli Interni/Esteri/Tesoro (Italian) - 29 Sep 2011
- ↑ The St.Charlian Parliament
- ↑ The St.Charlian Observer: My big, fat, St.Charlian wedding - 9 Jul 2011
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The St.Charlian Observer: Open-minded A.C., but not for gays - 17 Sep 2009
- ↑ Official St.Charlie Forums: Matrimoni gay e coppie di fatto (Italian) - 29 Aug 2009
- ↑ The St.Charlian Observer: Eat at Nicks: If we want to have a quarrel - 17 May 2010