Birgit Bjørnvig née Hornum (1936–2015) was a Danish politician and educator. Brought up in a working-class family in Copenhagen, she trained as a teacher and spent a short period as head of a primary school. In 1970, she married the writer

Thorkild Bjørnvig Thorkild Strange Bjørnvig (; 2 February 1918, Aarhus, Denmark – 5 March 2004, Samsø) was a Danish author and poet. Overview Bjørnvig studied literature at the University of Aarhus and his prize winning MA thesis (1947) was about Rainer Ma ...

and moved with him to the island of

Samsø Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Denmark, Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is ...

where she became politically involved. She first represented the

Danish Social Liberal Party The Danish Social Liberal Party (, RV, ) is a Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Denmark, political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre (Denmark), Venstre Reform Party in 1905. Histori ...

(Radikale Vestre) from 1983, but then joined the

People's Movement against the EU The People's Movement against the EU () is a far-left political association in Denmark against the European Union. It was founded in 1972 as a cross-party campaign platform for a 'no' vote in Denmark's referendum on EEC membership. The People's ...

(Folkebevægelsen mod EF) and became a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

for the Rainbow Group, serving two terms until 1994.

Early life and family

Born on 4 January 1936 in Copenhagen, Birgit Hornum was brought up in a working-class family in the city's Vesterbro district. After the war, she was cared for by a farming family on the island of

Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg Municipality, Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langeb ...

. There, when she was 20, she married a farmer and had her first three children. In 1970, she married the writer Thorkild Bjørnvig with whom she had a son, Thore.

Career

In the mid-1960s, she was employed as a secretary for the writer Karl Bjarnhof. Thanks to him, she met Thorkild Bjørnvig whom she married in 1970 and moved with him to the island of

. For a short period, she served as principal of the Samsø Primary School. It was on Samsø that she became involved in politics, participating at the local level as a member of the Social Liberal Party. In April 1983, she spent a couple of weeks as a Folketing substitute for Bernhard Baunsgaard. Representing the People's Movement against the EC, in September 1987 she became a member of the Rainbow Group at the European Parliament. From July 1989 until July 1994, she served a second term, chairing the Rainbow Group. From January 1993, at the European Parliament she was affiliated with the Danish

June Movement The June Movement () was a Danish left Eurosceptic political organisation founded 23 August 1992. It took its name from the referendum on the Maastricht Treaty that took place in Denmark in June of that year. The movement was a member of the E ...

which she had helped to establish. Birgit Hornum Bjørnvig died on 3 October 2015 and is buried in Nordby Cemetery, Samsø.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjornvig, Birgit 1936 births 2015 deaths Politicians from Copenhagen Members of the Folketing 1981–1984 20th-century Danish women politicians MEPs for Denmark 1984–1989 MEPs for Denmark 1989–1994 20th-century women MEPs for Denmark