Elsebeth Kock-Petersen
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Elsebeth Kock-Petersen (born 15 January 1949) is a Danish Venstre politician. 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 ...
who represented the constituency from 1975 to 1977 and then the between 1984 and 1990. Kock-Petersen was appointed the youngest ever Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1982 before being made Minister of Social Affairs between 1984 and 1986 and then the
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
from 1988 to 1989. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1984.


Early life and education

Kock-Petersen was born to the
Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current N ...
-based parish priest Ejnar Larsen and housewife Anna Maria Elkjær Larsen in Copenhagen on 15 January 1949. She was educated at
Nørre Gymnasium Nørre Gymnasium is one of Copenhagen’s largest gymnasiums offering both Danish instruction as well as the International Baccalaureate curriculum. It was founded in 1818 by Caroline Wroblewsky as a school for young girls, and since 1972 it has b ...
from 1967 and graduated from the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
with a
Candidate of Law Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...
in 1973.


Career

Aged 15, Kock-Petersen began her involvement in politics as a member of the
Venstres Ungdom Venstres Ungdom''The organisation's name is officially not translated into any other language. Similar rules apply for the name of the mother party Venstre. In Denmark, Venstres Ungdom is usually referred to simply as "VU".'' (literally: ''Youth o ...
. She sat on the board of the Liberal Youth Board in Copenhagen-Frederiksberg between 1965 and 1970. Kock-Petersen also worked as a Sunday school teacher at Brorsons Kirke as well becoming a member of Nørrebro's Local Council between 1965 and 1973 and the City of Copenhagen's advisory youth committee from 1967 to 1973. From 1970 to 1972, she was a Member of the House of Representatives in , and was appointed to Venstre's primary board in 1979. At the
1971 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 21 September 1971 and in the Faroe Islands on 5 October.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p524 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 ...
in three different constituencies that were in , and but she was unsuccessful in gaining election. She went on to not get elected to represent the constituency at the
1973 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 4 December 1973 and in the Faroe Islands on 13 December.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p524 It has since been referred to as the ''Landslide Election'' ( ...
. Kock-Petersen worked as a secretary and later clerk at from 1973 to 1978 and then became an assistant for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
in 1979. At the 1975 Danish general election on January 9, Kock-Petersen was elected to the Folketing as a representative of the constituency caused by the Venstre party led by Prime Minister
Poul Hartling Poul Hartling (14 August 1914 – 30 April 2000) was a Danish politician and diplomat. He was leader of Venstre from 1965 to 1977, and served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1973 to 1975. Prior to that, he served as foreign minister from 1968 ...
gaining seats. She lost her seat the
1977 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 15 February 1977.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p524 The Social Democrats (Denmark), Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 6 ...
on 15 February of that year when her party lost seats. Kock-Petersen joined the
Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
's Marriage Committee between 1976 and 1983. At the age of 33, she was appointed Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs under the first government of
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 (and to date, only) member of the Conservative People's Party to become Prime Minister, ...
on 10 September 1982. Kock-Petersen was the youngest person to be appointed to that position of government. At the
1984 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 10 January 1984,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p525 after the opposition voted against the centre-right four-party government's state budget bill. Althoug ...
on 10 January, she won re-election to the Folketing, this time as the representative of the constituency. Kock-Petersen was appointed Minister for Social Affairs on 23 July 1984 after Schlüter reshuffled his cabinet and she declined to be made the two years later because she was disinterested with it. Her former role as Minister for Ecclesisatical Affairs was assigned to
Mette Madsen Mette Marie Madsen (née Fruensgaard; 3 July 1924 – 12 December 2015) was a Danish politician for the Venstre political party, autobiographer and writer. She was the minister representing the North Jutland constituency in the Folketing betwee ...
. A cabinet reshuffle in 1986 saw Kock-Petersen removed as Minister for Social Affairs and she was appointed a member of the board for both The Mission among the Homeless and SJL Bank. When a new government was established in 1988, she accepted the offer to become the new
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
and she began the role on 3 June 1988. Kock-Petersen resigned the post at her own request, and she left the post 7 December 1989 before resigning from the Folketing on 12 December 1990 to focus more time on her family. She and her two children secretly relocated to the United Kingdom and settled in
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
, north of London and no longer makes any public appearances.


Personal life

She was married to the lawyer Nils K.-P. from 13 December 1970 until they divorced in the early 1990s. In 1984, Kock-Petersen was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kock-Petersen, Elsebeth 1949 births Living people Politicians from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish women politicians 21st-century Danish women University of Copenhagen alumni Members of the Folketing 1975–1977 Members of the Folketing 1984–1987 Members of the Folketing 1987–1988 Members of the Folketing 1988–1990 Women members of the Folketing Women government ministers of Denmark Ministers for ecclesiastical affairs of Denmark Health ministers of Denmark Venstre (Denmark) politicians Danish expatriates in England Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog