Ole Christian Liep Sohn (born 12 September 1954) 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 ...

politician and author. He was a member of the

Parliament of Denmark 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 ...

for 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 ...

(until 2015) and was Denmark's Minister for Business and Growth until he announced his resignation on 12 October 2012.Ole Sohn stepping down
Politiken.dk, October 12, 2012. Besides his political work, Sohn is an author and publisher. He has written several books on the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, using material that has been released from Soviet archives after the breakup of the union. In 2004 he founded the publishing firm ''Forlaget Sohn''. From the 1990s and onwards he has also been active in the Writers' Union.

Early life

Ole Sohn was born in Torsted, in

Horsens Municipality Horsens municipality is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Midtjylland on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Endelave, and covers an area of 524.21 km2. It has ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in 1954. In the years 1970-1976 he worked as a ship's cook and an earth and concrete worker. In the years of 1972-1973 he took a

Higher Preparatory Examination (HF) The Higher Preparatory Examination (in Danish: ''Højere Forberedelseseksamen'' or ''HF'') is a 2-year general upper secondary programme building on to the 10th form of the Folkeskole and leading to the higher preparatory examination (the HF- ...

and later went to teacher's college. Sohn started his political career young. When he took his HF he was spokesperson for the students during the years of 1972-1973. From the mid-1970s he served in several union offices, among those the central board of the Danish General Workers' Union.

Political career

Danish Communist Party

Sohn was a member of the

Communist Party of Denmark The Communist Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti, DKP) is a communist party in Denmark. The DKP was founded on 9 November 1919 as the Left-Socialist Party of Denmark (, VSP), through a merger of the Socialist Youth League and ...

. From 1981 to 1991 he was a member of the party's central committee. He also served as a member of the

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

city council from 1982 to 1984. From 1987 to 1989 he was a candidate for the parliamentary elections for the communists. From 1989 to 1991 he was a candidate on the ticket of the Red-Green Alliance which the communists had joined. He was elected chairman of the communist party in 1987. This was a time of great internal disagreement, disagreements that would later split the party. In 1987 the communists choose to elect two chairmen instead of one. Sohn was elected chairman together with the trade unionist Jan Andersen who was a communist hardliner who viewed Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms with great skepticism. Sohn was elected to balance out Andersen as a young and dynamic candidate who could represent the Gorbachev faction of the party. The election of two chairmen was meant to symbolize cooperation between the two factions of the party but Andersen died shortly after, leaving the young Sohn with the sole responsibility for settling the internal struggles in the party. Sohn had to deal with the great upheavals in the communist world in the late 1980s. However, he was too young to cope with the old hard-liners in the party. They won the power struggle and in 1990 they deposed him. This led to a party congress where the Sohn faction won and the party was split. However, a year after he left the communist party and joined the Socialist People's Party.

Socialist People's Party

Sohn was first elected to parliament on the ticket of the Socialist People's Party in the 1998 election and has been in parliament since. After the 2011 election, Sohn became Minister for Business and Growth.

Personal life

Ole Sohn is married to Inger Sohn. Together they have two children, Iben and Christian.

Bibliography

* ''Fra Folketinget til celle 290'' 1992 * ''Et liv i kamp og kærlighed'' 1993 * ''Der var bud efter dem'' 1994 * ''Her kommer fra dybet den mørke armé'' 1995 * ''Den højeste straf'' 1996 * ''Frihedens port'' 1999 * ''Vanviddets logik'' 2000 * ''Rundt om filmen DEN HØJESTE STRAF'' 2001 * ''De drog mod øst'' 2002 * '' Gustaf Munch-Petersen – og den spanske borgerkrig'', 2007 * ''Et liv i kamp og kærlighed'', 2007 * ''Jeg kommer snart hjem'', 2010, a book about a peasant family that emigrated to Siberia in 1910 * ''Fra Folketinget til celle 290'', 2011, a book about

Arne Munch-Petersen Arne may refer to: Places * Arne, Dorset, England, a village ** Arne RSPB reserve, a nature reserve adjacent to the village * Arné, Hautes-Pyrénées, Midi-Pyrénées, France * Arne (Boeotia), an ancient city in Boeotia, Greece * Arne (Thessa ...

, a Danish communist that died as a result of Stalins purges

References

External links

Official website
* (not updated since June 2015)
Archived Biography
from the Socialist People's Party. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sohn, Ole Danish male writers Living people 1954 births Communist Party of Denmark politicians Socialist People's Party (Denmark) politicians People from Horsens Municipality Members of the Folketing 1998–2001 Members of the Folketing 2001–2005 Members of the Folketing 2005–2007 Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2011–2015