Karen Moustgaard Jespersen (born 17 January 1947 in Copenhagen) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

journalist and former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

representing the party Venstre.

Early life

Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, she's the daughter of labourer Knud Jespersen and

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

owner Anna Jespersen. She attended Nansensgade School from 1954 to1964. Then, she graduated in History and Archaeology at

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

. She's married to

Ralf Pittelkow Ralf Pittelkow (born 9 April 1948 in Sønderborg, Denmark) is a Danish publisher of the extreme right online news site ''Den Korte Avis''. Pittelkow graduated as a student from high school in 1966 and holds a PhD in comparative literature from ...

Career

Jespersen served as the editor of now defunct '' Politisk Revy'' magazine from 1974 to 1977. She was a member of the

Left Socialists Left Socialists ( da, Venstresocialisterne) was a political party in Denmark. The party worked on what it called an "undogmatic revolutionary and Marxist basis". It was formed in 1967 as a split from the Socialist People's Party (SF). In 1989 ...

, represented the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

and was Social Minister from 25 January 1993 to 28 January 1994 in the

Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I When the conservative Prime Minister Poul Schlüter resigned on the 15 January 1993 because of the Tamil Case, the leader of the Social Democrats Poul Nyrup Rasmussen formed his first cabinet on the 25 January 1993. The cabinet consisted of the So ...

, and 27 September 1994 to 23 February 2000 in the

Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen II After the 1994 Danish parliamentary election, the sitting Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was able to form a government coalition of his own Social Democrats, the Danish Social Liberal Party and the Centre Democrats. The resulting cab ...

, III and IV. She was Interior Minister 23 February 2000 to 27 November 2001 in the

Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen IV After the 1998 Danish parliamentary election, the sitting Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was able to reform the government coalition of his own Social Democrats and the Danish Social Liberal Party. The resulting cabinet, which replac ...

. She has been a member of 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 ...

since 12 December 1990. On 12 September 2007 she replaced

Eva Kjer Hansen Eva Kjer Hansen (born 26 August 1964 in Aabenraa) is a former Danish politician, who was a member of the Folketing for the Venstre political party. She held many ministerial positions, the last being as minister of Fisheries, Gender Equality and ...

as Social Minister and Minister for Equal Rights in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II, thus becoming the first Danish politician to have represented both political wings as a government minister. On 23 November 2007, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs and the Social Ministry were merged into a Ministry of Welfare, and Jespersen became Minister of Welfare in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen III. She held this post until April 2009 when Denmark changed prime ministers to

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the le ...

Eisenhower Fellowships Eisenhower Fellowships is a private, non-profit organization created in 1953 by a group of prominent American citizens to honor President Dwight D. Eisenhower for his contribution to humanity as a soldier, statesman, and world leader. The organiz ...

selected Karen Jespersen in 1987 to represent Denmark. In the book ''Islamister og Naivister: et anklageskrift'' (Islamists and Naivists: a bill of indictment), which she wrote together with her husband, political commentator

, she warns of an underestimation of the Islamist threat. On 14 January 2007, she declared that she was no longer member of the Social Democrats. In a press release 1 February 2007, the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Party '' Venstre'' announced that Karen Jespersen had joined the party and would be a candidate for parliament (

Folketinget 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 an ...

) in the next election. 18 June 2015 was her last day in the Folketing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jespersen, Karen 1947 births Living people Danish women journalists Danish Interior Ministers Politicians from Copenhagen Government ministers of Denmark Venstre (Denmark) politicians Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians Danish journalists 21st-century Danish women politicians Women government ministers of Denmark Women members of the Folketing Female interior ministers Members of the Folketing 1990–1994 Members of the Folketing 1994–1998 Members of the Folketing 1998–2001 Members of the Folketing 2001–2005 Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2011–2015