Christine Edda Antorini (born 23 May 1965) is a Danish politician for the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

, formerly for the Socialist People's Party. From 2011 to 2015 she was the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in the

Cabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt Thorning-Schmidt Cabinet may refer to: *Thorning-Schmidt I Cabinet (2011-2014) *Thorning-Schmidt II Cabinet The Second Cabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt was the Government of Denmark in office from 3 February 2014 to 28 June 2015. It was a coalit ...

. She was a member of the Folketing from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2005 to 2018.

Background

Antorini was born in

Jyllinge Jyllinge is a town located on the eastern shores of Roskilde Fjord, midway between Roskilde and Frederikssund, Roskilde Municipality, some 40 km west of Copenhagen, Denmark. The original fishing village is surrounded by large areas of Singl ...

, near

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, where her mother was a teacher and her father a

dairyman A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

. Her mother was of

Swiss Italian The Italian language in Italian Switzerland or Swiss Italian (, ) is the variety of the Italian language taught in the Italian-speaking area of Switzerland. While this variety is mainly spoken in the canton of Ticino and in the southern part ...

descent and Antorini was brought up in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

faith. She studied political science at

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

1985-1987 and public administration at Roskilde University 1989-1994, obtaining a Candidate degree. She headed the secretariat of an independent office for consumer information 1999-2003, was anchorwoman in

Danish Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

2003-2004 and worked for the Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees, part of

Danish Confederation of Trade Unions LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions ( Danish: ''LO, Landsorganisationen i Danmark'' or simply ''LO'') was founded in 1898 and was an umbrella organisation (the largest of the three national trade union centers in Denmark) for 18 Danish ...

, 2004-2005. After leaving politics, from 2018 to 2023 she was manager of LIFE Fonden, a foundation that promotes the knowledge of

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and technology among children. From 2023, she enrolled in the study to become a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

Political career

Antorini was a member of the executive board of the

Youth of the Socialist People's Party Socialistisk Folkepartis Ungdom (Popular Socialist Youth of Denmark) is the youth wing of the Green Left of Denmark, founded in 1969. In 1995, the leftist section of the SFU (essentially the Copenhagen branch) broke away and formed Independent ...

became a member of the executive board for the Socialist People's Party in 1988. In 1991, she became deputy leader for the party, a position she held to 1998. From 1998 to 1999 she was a member of the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), 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 and Greenland. E ...

for the Socialist People's Party from Eastern Copenhagen

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. She was elected again to the Folketing in the general election, 2005, this time representing the

and subsequently re-elected in the 2007 election and the 2011 election. She was among other things the Social Democrats' spokesperson on education. The 2011 election brought the Social Democrats to power in a coalition cabinet led by

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each p ...

. Antorini was named Minister of Children and Education 3 October 2011, with the inclusion of children in the Minister of Education's portfolio being a novelty. In a cabinet reshuffle on 9 August 2013, the position was again called Minister of Education. She has been a member of a number of committees, boards and think-thanks; several related to education and science. Christine Antorini was one of two Danish nominees for EU Commissioner in August 2014.

Personal life

Antorini is twice divorced. She has two children from her first marriage. Her second marriage was to sociologist Henrik Dahl.

Bibliography

* ''Borgerlige ord efter revolutionen'' (co-author),

Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal (), is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...

, 1999 * ''Det ny systemskifte'' (co-author), Gyldendal, 2001 * ''Fanatisme eller Idealisme'', Forum, 2003, * ''Epostler'' (co-author), Gyldendal, 2003 * ''Fremtidens partier'', Gyldendal, 2008.

References

External links

Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antorini, Christine 1965 births Living people People from Roskilde Municipality Danish people of Swiss-Italian descent Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians Socialist People's Party (Denmark) politicians 20th-century Danish women politicians 21st-century Danish women politicians Government ministers of Denmark Women government ministers of Denmark Ministers of education of Denmark Women members of the Folketing Members of the Folketing 1998–2001 Members of the Folketing 2005–2007 Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 Roskilde University alumni