Inger Margrethe Philip (14 August 1916 – 1 September 2016) was a Danish politician for the
Danish Social Liberal Party
The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905.
Historically, the centrist party has played a centra ...
who was elected to serve as a member of parliament in the
Copenhagen County
Københavns Amt () is a former county (Danish, ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covered the municipalities in the metropolitan Copenhagen area, with the excepti ...
district in the
Folketing
The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
from 1960 to 1979. Before entering politics, she worked as a clerk in the secretariat of the and then in the . Philip got involved in the political affairs of the social scene and women. She was on various committees such as the and the .
Biography
On 14 August 1916,
Philip was born Inger Margrethe Nygaard in
Snekkersten
Snekkersten is a former fishing village and current neighbourhood in the southern part of Helsingør, Denmark. Snekkersten station is an interchange between the Coast Line between Copenhagen (to Copenhagen) and the Lille Nord railway to Hillerød ...
,
Tikøb
Tikøb is a small town and parish located 8 km west of Helsingør and six km north of Fredensborg, between Lake Esrum to the southwest and Gurre Lake to the east. in Helsingør Municipality, some 40 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hist ...
, .
[ She was the daughter of the office manager, cand. jur. Einar Oluf Nygaard,][ and the clerk Elna Marie Henrikgine Dahlberg.][ Philip was raised in an household in which her parents were educated academically and social and political topics were talked about.][ In 1935, she enrolled at the Ingwersen and Ellbrechts School as a student,][ did the first part of her science examination at the ]University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
, and graduated as the first women economics cand. jur. from Denmark's second university Aarhus University
Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
in 1941. Following a period as a secretary at the Aarhus Orthopedic Hospital between 1942 and 1945, Philip worked as a teacher of various advanced courses from 1945 to 1949. In 1951, she was employed to become a business supervisor at the Central Work Instructions in Copenhagen until 1954, where she became aware of economic and social impacts on young girls. From 1954 to 1958, Philip worked as a remunerated clerk in the secretariat of the , then again as a clerk in the between 1958 and 1960, where she edited ''De store årgange''.[
Philip was a member of the ]Danish Women's Society
The Danish Women's Society or DWS ( da, Dansk Kvindesamfund) is Denmark's oldest women's rights organization. It was founded in 1871 by activist Matilde Bajer and her husband Fredrik Bajer; Fredrik was a Member of Parliament and the 1908 Nobel Pea ...
in Aarhus, serving as chair of its youth circle from 1944 to 1946.[ At the 1960 Danish general election, she was elected to serve the ]Copenhagen County
Københavns Amt () is a former county (Danish, ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covered the municipalities in the metropolitan Copenhagen area, with the excepti ...
district in the constituency the constituency on behalf of the Danish Social Liberal Party
The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905.
Historically, the centrist party has played a centra ...
in the Folketing
The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
due to a large personal vote.[ Philip became involved in the political affairs of the social scene and women,] and represented the Lyngby constituency from 1968 to 1979.[ Between 1960 and 1965, she served as a member of the Wages Council, the supervisory board of the Stutgården treatment home from 1961 to 1970 and the in 1961. Philip served on the supervisory board of the ]Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...
in 1962 before becoming its chair from 1971 to 1975.[ In 1962, she was the second woman to serve as a member of the .][ Between 1962 and 1974, Philip was a member of the Cultural Foundation's Board,][ and on the Social Reform Commission from 1964 to 1972, where she conducted a thorough social legislation study and worked to simplify the administration and structure and better social sector staff training.][
From 1964 to 1968, she was a member of the Varna orphanage's supervisory board,][ as well as between 1965 and 1974.][ Philip was a member of the from 1968 to 1970, the Board of Representatives for ]Danmarks Nationalbank
Danmarks Nationalbank (in Danish often simply ''Nationalbanken'') is the central bank of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is a non-eurozone member of the European System of Central Banks ( ESCB). Since its establishment in 1818, the objective of the Na ...
between 1968 and 1971, was a member of Sparekassen København-Sjælland's supervisory board from 1969 on, served on the business guidance council from 1970, was on Dansk Sparinvest's board starting in 1971 and on 's board from 1976.[ She was offered the cabinet position of Minister for Social Affairs by ]Hilmar Baunsgaard
Hilmar Baunsgaard (26 February 1920, Slagelse – 30 June 1989) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1968 to 1971. He was a member of the Danish Social Liberal Party and the party's leader from 1968 to 1975. He wa ...
, the Prime Minister of Denmark
The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islan ...
, but she rejected the offer. Philip was voted the recipient of the first in 1970.[ She lost her seat in the Folketing in the ]1979 Danish general election
General elections were held in Denmark on 23 October 1979. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p524 The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 68 of the 179 seats. Voter tu ...
on 23 October that year,[ but continued to be a financial board member,][ becoming chair of Sparekassen SDS and SDS in 1981 and 1984, respectively.][
]
Personal life
Philip was married to the government minister and her economics professor Kjeld Philip from 19 February 1938 until his death on 27 October 1989. They had two children. She died on 1 September 2016.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philip, Grethe
1916 births
2016 deaths
People from Helsingør Municipality
Aarhus University alumni
University of Copenhagen alumni
20th-century Danish women politicians
21st-century Danish women politicians
Members of the Folketing 1968–1971
Members of the Folketing 1971–1973
Members of the Folketing 1973–1975
Members of the Folketing 1975–1977
Members of the Folketing 1977–1979
Women members of the Folketing
Danish Social Liberal Party politicians