Claus Bertel Toksvig (21 October 1929 – 5 November 1988) was a Danish broadcaster, journalist and politician who, as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation's first permanent foreign correspondent, is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in Danish broadcasting history. In later life he turned his attention to politics. In 1984, he was elected as a

member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

and served briefly as one 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 ...

's fourteen Vice-Presidents.

Journalism and broadcasting

Commencing with five years spent working on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

's Danish-language broadcasts, in London, Toksvig held numerous appointments in journalism and broadcasting. He was part of the original team of reporters on TV Avisen, the first daily evening television news programme broadcast by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) in 1965; and in 1967 he was posted to New York City as DR's first ever permanent foreign correspondent. After fifteen years of continuous service as a foreign correspondent, in New York and London; he resigned his position with DR in a dispute over working conditions and their intention to rotate him out of his posting to London, where his family were settled and he had established a permanent home. As a broadcaster, he is probably most popularly remembered as the man providing the live Danish commentary on the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

mission and

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

's first Moon walk. *1951–1956: Production assistant with the BBC World Service's Danish-language broadcasts, in London. *1956–1958: Reporter for the Federal Broadcasting Corporation, in the then

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...

. *1958–1967: Reporter and anchor with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) news and current affairs programming, in

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 ...

. *1967–1974: Posted to New York City as DR's first ever permanent foreign correspondent. – a period during which he is remembered for covering such events as the

mission, the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

, the assassinations of Robert F Kennedy and Martin Luther King, as well as notable periods of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. *1974–1977: Eurovision Song Contest commentator for DR. *1974–1982: London correspondent for DR. *1982: Resigned his position with DR.

Politics

In 1984, Claus Toksvig stood as a Conservative People's Party candidate for the

and was elected as a

(MEP) by one of the largest popular votes ever achieved by a Danish politician. He served three successive terms as the Vice-Chairman of the

European Democrats The European Democratic Group, more commonly known as European Democrats, was a conservative political group that operated in the European Parliament between 1979 and 1992. At its height in July 1979, it had 63 MEPs. Ideologically, ED was mor ...

(ED) grouping within the parliament, was for a short time one of the fourteen Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament, chaired the EU delegation for relations with Norway and served as a member on the European Parliament's

standing committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

on: Institutional Affairs; Political Affairs; and

Energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

Research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

and Technology. In 1987 he stood for the chairmanship of the ED group, but was defeated by Christopher Prout. Claus Toksvig died before the completion of his first term as an MEP.

Personal life

Claus Toksvig was born in Copenhagen in 1929 and was the second child of Harald Toksvig, a well-known editor and illustrator, and Karen Frederikke Clauson-Kaas. In 1954, whilst working for the BBC World Service in London, Toksvig married Julie Anne Brett and together they had three children: Nick Toksvig (a bureau chief and senior news editor for

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She ha ...

(a comedian, author and broadcaster) and Jenifer Toksvig (an author, lyricist and playwright). Toksvig died on 5 November 1988 and was buried at the Nørup cemetery, in the Vejle municipality of

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

Bibliography

*''Slutspil i Afrika (English: Endgame in Africa)'', Claus Toksvig, C. Erichsen 1961, *''TV-reporter (English: TV reporter)'', Claus Toksvig, C. Erichsen 1963, *''Den redigerede virkelighed – en reporters beretning om det amerikanske praesidentvalg 1972 (English: The edited reality – one reporter's account of the U.S. presidential election 1972)'', Claus Toksvig, Forum 1972,

Filmography

Claus Toksvig appeared as himself (and as the narrator) in both the English-language and Danish-language versions of the 1961 Danish-American co-production of ''

Reptilicus ''Reptilicus'' is the mutual title of two monster films about a giant, prehistoric reptile. A pair of Danish-American co-productions produced by Cinemagic and Saga Studio, the Danish-language ''Reptilicus'' was directed by Poul Bang and release ...

''; which, as the country's first and only giant monster film, has a large

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

in Denmark.

References

External links

*
Claus Toksvig
at the

Danish Film Institute The Danish Film Institute (; DFI) is the national Danish institution, agency responsible for supporting and encouraging film and cinema culture, and for conserving these in the national interest. It is the successor organisation to the Danish Fil ...

(Det Danske Filminstitut)
Claus Toksvig
at the

Claus Toksvig
at Gravsted (a Danish index of the final resting places of famous Danes), which includes a picture of his grave at Nørup Cemetery in Jutland. Retrieved 26 May 2010. *Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR
archive audio clip
of Claus Toksvig providing the live Danish commentary on Neil Armstrong exiting the Apollo Lunar Module and setting foot on the Moon on 21 July 1969 (the recording lasts 8 minutes and 46 seconds – the celebrated ''"one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"'', which Toksvig does not translate, is heard at 6 minutes 37 seconds). Retrieved 26 May 2010. *Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR
archive audio clip
of Claus Toksvig providing the live Danish commentary to the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, on 29 July 1981. Retrieved 26 May 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Toksvig, Claus 1929 births 1988 deaths Place of death missing 20th-century Danish journalists Danish foreign correspondents Conservative People's Party (Denmark) MEPs Danish radio presenters Danish television presenters MEPs for Denmark 1984–1989 Writers from Copenhagen