Lisbeth Beate Lindenskov Petersen (28 February 1939 – 7 August 2024) was a Faroese politician in the Union Party. She was one of the first women to reach a top position in Faroese politics. Petersen served as mayor of the capital, Tórshavn, from 1992 to 1996 and was the first female mayor of Tórshavn. She was a member of the

Faroese Parliament Faroese ( ) or Faroish ( ) may refer to anything pertaining to the Faroe Islands, e.g.: * the Faroese language * the Faroese people * the Faroese islands {{Disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

from 1990 to 2008, she was the first Faroese woman who was elected to the

Danish Parliament 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 ...

, she was a member of the Danish Parliament from 2001 to 2005. From 2001 to 2004 she was

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

and head of her party.Lisbeth Petersen. ''DR Nyheder''.
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Background

Petersen was born in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...

.Hoydal, Gunnar. Lisbeth Petersen (1939–). ''Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon''
She was the daughter of the editor Georg L. Samuelsen, the sister of the journalist Beate L. Samuelsen, the granddaughter of Prime Minister Andrass Samuelsen, and the niece of the lawyer

Trygvi Samuelsen Samuel Georg Trygve Samuelsen (September 16, 1907 – February 19, 1985) was a Faroese lawyer and politician in the Faroese Union Party. Life Samuelsen was born in Fuglafjørður i 1907, the son of Andrass Samuelsen and Beate Emilie Lindenskov ...

. She came from an influential family that owned most of the newspaper ''

Dimmalætting ''Dimmalætting'' (Faroese language, Faroese for 'Dawn') is the oldest and largest newspaper of the Faroe Islands and is based in Tórshavn. The first edition of the ''Dimma'', as it is commonly known, appeared (after a test issue on December 8, 1 ...

''. She was the largest single shareholder when the family sold its shares in 2010. Her son Georg L. Petersen is the current

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''Dimmalætting''. Her grandfather and uncle were also leaders of the Union Party. After completing high school in Tórshavn, Petersen passed the

entrance exam In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typicall ...

in 1958 to study at Bagsværd Boarding School and High School in Denmark. Her father advised her against pursuing a career in journalism, and she started as a sales assistant in a dry good store. In 1959 she started studying at

Copenhagen Business School Copenhagen Business School (Danish'': Handelshøjskolen i København'') often abbreviated and referred to as CBS (also in Danish), is a public university situated in Copenhagen, Denmark and is considered one of the most prestigious business scho ...

, but then broke off her studies and returned to the Faroe Islands, where she married the engineer Jákup Petersen from Signabøur in 1960. Over the next ten years, she alternated between being a housewife and working part-time at law offices in Tórshavn while her husband was abroad. Petersen served as the project secretary for the

National Museum of the Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands National Museum (, Danish language, Danish: ''Færøernes Nationalmuseum'') is the national museum of the Faroe Islands, located in Tórshavn. The exhibition at Brekkutún 6 The Faroe Islands National Museum has exhibitions i ...

from 1980 to 1992, and as party secretary for the Union Party from 1982 to 1987. Petersen died in Tórshavn on 7 August 2024, at the age of 85.Lisbeth L. Petersen andaðist í gjár

Political work

Petersen joined local party organization of the Union Party in Tórshavn early in her career. In the 1970s, greater gender equality was achieved. In 1984, Petersen ran for office for the first time, and was elected a member of the Tórshavn municipal council. She was the first-ever elected female representative for the Union Party, and during the post-election negotiations she was offered the position of mayor. Petersen preferred to serve as deputy mayor and chair of the social committee. After the elections in 1992, she yielded to pressure from her political supporters and became Tórshavn's first female mayor. The Union Party had its best-ever showing in the local elections of 1996, but Petersen did not take a leading position between 1997 and 2000, after which she withdrew from local politics. Petersen served in the

as a representative from the South

Streymoy Streymoy (, ) is the largest and most populated island of the Faroe Islands. The capital, Tórshavn, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest region of the country that also includes the ...

() district from 1990 to 2008. During her first term she was mostly engaged in transport, justice, social, and health issues, and she later sat on the Faroese Parliament's financial committee. She was especially engaged in cooperation with Iceland and

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, and was a member of the Faroese Parliament's delegation to the

West Nordic Council The West Nordic Council (, , , ) is a cooperative forum for the parliaments and governments of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. It was initially founded in 1985 as the West Nordic Parliamentarian Council of Cooperation but the name was ch ...

(formerly the West Nordic Parliamentarian Council of Cooperation) from 1990 to 2002, serving as the council's president from 1993 to 1994 and from 1996 to 1997. She played a central role in the Union Party following the party's 1994 election victory during the Faroese financial crisis and advanced to head of the party and parliamentary leader from 2001 to 2004. She apparently had the chance to become prime minister in 1994, but the position went to Edmund Joensen. Petersen served in the

as a representative from the Faroes from 2001 to 2005 and joined the Venstre party's group in the parliament. On 8 March 2007 (

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

), Petersen announced that she would withdraw from politics. In 2014 she resigned from the Union Party in protest against the political orientation of Kaj Leo Johannesen's government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Lisbeth L. 1939 births 2024 deaths Mayors of Tórshavn Members of the Løgting Members of the Folketing Order of the Dannebrog People from Tórshavn