Mette Marie Madsen (née Freunsgaard; 3 July 1924 – 12 December 2015) was a Danish politician for the Venstre political party, autobiographer and writer. She was the minister representing the North Jutland constituency 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 ...

between 1971 and 1988 and she was the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs from 1984 to 1988 during the premiership of

Poul Schlüter Poul Holmskov Schlüter (; 3 April 1929 – 27 May 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993. He was the first member of the Conservative People's Party to become Prime Minister, as well as the first ...

. Madsen was a member of the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...

, the first female chair of the Assembly's Committee on Culture, Education and Information and both the chair of the supervisory committee of both the

Danish Arts Foundation The Danish Arts Foundation (Danish: Statens Kunstfond) is the principal Danish government funded arts foundation founded by a special Law on 27 May 1964. Statens Kunstfond alongside the :da:Statens Kunstråd (English sometimes State Arts Council n ...

and 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 ...

. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog and received other foreign awards.

Biography

She was born Mette Marie Fruensgaard on a farm in

Pandrup Pandrup is a town in North Jutland, Denmark. It is located in Jammerbugt Municipality, 6 km northwest of Aabybro and 17 km southwest of Brønderslev. Until 1 January 2007 Pandrup was the seat of the former Pandrup Municipality. Histo ...

North Jutland Region The North Jutland Region ( da, Region Nordjylland), or in some official sources, the North Denmark Region, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which abolished the tra ...

, Jetsmark Parish on 3 July 1924. Madsen was the daughter of the farm owners Holger Fruensgaard and his wife Kathrine Jacobsen. She attended Åbybro Realskole from which she left at age 18 following the completion of her examinations. From 1958 to 1967, Madsen worked as a satirical employee at ''Aalborg Amtstidende'' and then at ''Vendsyssel Tidende'' in 1967. She began writing satirical articles for the ''Blæksprutten'' in 1964, authored memoir and poem collections, and songs for national meetings 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 1971, Madsen stood as a candidate for the Venstre political party in the Frederiksberg constituency for the

. That same year, she was elected to represent the North Jutland constituency in the Folketing on behalf of Venstre at the

1971 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 21 September 1971 and in the Faroe Islands on 5 October. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p524 During her time in parliament, Madsen served on multiple boards. From 1970 to 1977, she was a member of the Hvetbo Herreds Sparekasse's supervisory board; was a member of the Great Women's Commission between 1971 and 1974; was a member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

's Social and Health Committee from 1973 to 1974 and of the

Committee on Culture and Education The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for educat ...

and the Committee on Architectural Heritage from 1975 to 1979. Madsen was a member of the Kongelig Mayestaits Acteurs during 1973 and of The Board of the Danish Inter-Parliamentary Group between 1974 and 1979 of which she served as its vice-president in 1976. She was a member of the Danish Diabetes Association between 1973 and 1983 and was on Brønderslev Ventetidshjem's supervisory board from 1975 to 1978. From 1974 to 1978, Madsen was a member of the

's and the

's Board of Representatives before serving as both its chairmen of their respective supervisory committees between 1978 and 1984. She was also chair of the Statens Museumsnævn from 1977 to 1982 and of both the Vendsyssel Tidendes Fond and the Friends of the Vrå Exhibition between 1977 and 1984. Madsen was a member of the board of each of the

Designmuseum Denmark The Designmuseum Denmark () is a museum in Copenhagen for Danish and international design and crafts. It features works of famous Danish designers like Arne Jacobsen, Jacob Jensen and Kaare Klint, who was one of the two architects who remodeled ...

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 ...

, the Danish Health Fund and the Danish Handcraft Guild. From 1980, she was a member of the Danish Conscription Board, a member of Venstre's parliamentary group between 1973 and 1975 and again from 1976 to 1984 and on Venstre's main board from 1977. From 1979 to 1984, Madsen was a member of the

and was the first women to be elected chair of the Assembly's Committee on Culture, Education and Information on 1982. She was a member of the Presidium Folketing from 1981 to 1984, served as the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs from 23 July 1984 to 3 June 1988 under the premiership of

and she was temporary Venstre political party member of the Folketing in the North Jutland constituency between 25 January 1988 and 1 February 1988. As minister, Madsen introduced legislation to protect cemeteries and historical monuments and helped stop Copenhagen from clearing the large

Assistens Cemetery Assistens Cemetery ( da, Assistens Kirkegård) is the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark. The common nominator is, as the first part of the name implies (Latin: ''assistens'' meaning assisting), an assisting cemetery for a town's churches. ...

as well as introducing the teaching of Christianity to Danish schoolchildren and obtaining more funding for employing more priests. She authored ''Vers og viser'' in 1971; ''Hen på eftermiddagen'' the poem collection two years later; ''Rosen i verden'' in 1981; the poem collection ''Sommerens veje'' in 1982 and ''Med Grundtvig ved hånde'' in 1984. Madsen authored her political memoirs ''Og så er der kaffe'' in 1992; ''I Anledening Af'' containing poetry and songs in 1994 and ''Tiden der Fulgte'' in 1997. Her childhood memoirs, ''Husk nu at nje'', were published in 1997. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1985 and she has received other foreign awards. This included the Icelandic Knight of the Order of the Falcon (Second Class) and the French National Order of Culture. Other awards Madsen received were the Ravn-Joensens Mindelegat in 1968 and the Fanfareprisen Chr IV Laug in 1997. From 1989 to 2005, she was chair and later vice-chair of the Foreningen For Kirkegårdskultur.

Personal life

She married the district court lawyer Gunnar Otto Madsen on 1 September 1942. Madsen did not have any biological children but she adopted her husband's three children from a previous marriage in 1965. On 12 December 2015, she died, and a funeral ceremony was held for her at Hasseris Church on 19 September.

References

External links