Else Winther Andersen (born 5 April 1941) is a Danish Venstre politician, teacher and social worker who served as the Minister for Social Affairs under Prime Minister

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 ...

from 18 December 1990 until her resignation on 25 January 1993. She was also a member of 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 an ...

for the constituency between 1990 and 2005. Andersen was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1991.

Early life and education

Andersen was born to the farm owner Jens Winther and Alma Ditlev Winther ( Pedersen) in a Grundtvig farmhouse located in

Støvring Støvring is a town in Rebild municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as ''Himmerland'' in northern Denmark. The town has a population of 9,089 (2022), and is one of the centres of industry and re ...

on 5 April 1941. She was raised on the farm which was located close to

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of ...

. Andersen began her schooling at the Støvring School from 1948 to 1955 and then went on to attend the junior high school Østhimmerlands Ungdomsskole in 1957 and the high school two years later. She also had a stay at in

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is th ...

Career

From 1959 to 1961, she worked as an hourly paid sports cover teacher at Videbæk Municipal School Office and she also taught swimming in

West Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. Andersen worked as an assistant agricultural wife at a farm near the North Jutland Agricultural School in

Nibe Nibe is a town with a population of 5,433 (1 January 2022),Aalborg University Aalborg University (AAU) is a Danish public university with campuses in Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Copenhagen founded in 1974. The university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD degrees in a wide variety of subjects within humanitie ...

between 1976 and 1983 with a dispensation and she went on to gain employment at

Randers Municipality Randers Municipality is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Midtjylland on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 96,559 (as of 1 April 2014). Its mayor, since 1 January ...

as a social consultant, where she worked part-time from 1983 to 1990. Andersen began advising farmers at Randers Agricultural Center from 1985. That same year, she stood for election to represent the constituency in the

as a member of the Venstre political party after she was encouraged to do so by people in the party but was unsuccessful. Andersen also unsuccessfully failed to get elected as a representative of the constituency at the

1988 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 10 May 1988,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 525 just seven months after the last elections. Prime Minister Poul Schlüter chose to call for an electio ...

three years later. From 29 November 1988 to 30 November 1990, she served as a deputy member of the Folketing variously for

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (, informal: ; 1 November 1941 – 18 June 2022) was a Danish politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark in the Conservative-led Poul Schlüter Administration from 1982 to 1993. He was leader of the D ...

, and

Knud Enggaard Knud Enggaard (born 4 June 1929 in Odder) is a Danish politician representing the centre-right Venstre party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1998, and held numerous cabinet positions in the Danish government. He served as Ministe ...

in the constituency. She became a member of Randers City Council for a one-year period in 1990. At the

1990 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 12 December 1990.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p525 Although the election resulted in a strong gain for the Social Democratic Party, Poul Schlüter's co ...

on 12 December of that year, Andersen successfully stood for election to the Folketing in the Aarhus County constituency. Five days later, she was contacted by Venstre party secretary

Claus Hjort Frederiksen Claus Hjort Frederiksen (born 4 September 1947) is a Danish politician of the Venstre party, who served as the Danish Minister for Defence from 2016 to 2019, and as Minister for Finance from 2015 to 2016, having previously served in that positi ...

and was asked to become the new

Minister of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of s ...

under the government of

. Andersen accepted and began working in the job on 18 December 1990 and resigned on 25 January 1993 when Prime Minister Schlüter's government resigned as a consequence of the

Tamil Case The Tamil Case (Danish: Tamilsagen) was a case about family reunification in Denmark of Tamil refugees from the Sri Lankan Civil War. The affair led to the resignation of the government led by Poul Schlüter in 1993. The scandal was first unco ...

. She had worked to help young people enrol on the development assistance system and helped to decentralise social policy. Andersen returned to local government when she was re-elected to Randers City Council in 1993. In 1994, she joined the board of the OK Foundation which constructs and operates nursing homes for senior citizens in Denmark and became its chair in 2002. Andersen resigned from Randers City Council on 31 December 2001 and she stood down from the Folketing at the

2005 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 8 February 2005.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p525 Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Venstre remained the largest party in the Folketing and his go ...

on 8 February of that year. From 1999, she served as a member of the Parkinson's Association's primary board, a member of each of Jysk Børneforsorg, Café Lytten, the Health Insurance Fund and a member of the board of representatives of Randen Cooperative Fund.

Personal life

Andersen has been married to the farm owner and production manager Preben Wittrup Andersen since 14 April 1962. They have two children. Her daughter, , has also been elected to the Folketing. In 1991, Andersen was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Else Winther 1941 births Living people People from Rebild Municipality Aalborg University alumni 20th-century Danish women politicians 20th-century Danish educators 21st-century Danish women politicians Members of the Folketing 1990–1994 Members of the Folketing 1994–1998 Members of the Folketing 1998–2001 Members of the Folketing 2001–2005 Women members of the Folketing Women government ministers of Denmark Venstre (Denmark) politicians Danish schoolteachers Danish social workers 20th-century Danish women educators 21st-century Danish women educators Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog