Mogens Lykketoft (; born 9 January 1946) is a Danish politician who served as Leader of 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 ...

(''Socialdemokraterne'') from 2002 to 2005. He succeeded

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Poul Oluf Nyrup Rasmussen (, informally Poul Nyrup, born 15 June 1943) is a retired Danish politician, who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 25 January 1993 to 27 November 2001 and President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) from ...

as party leader. After losing the 2005 parliamentary election, he resigned his office. In the Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I, II, III and IV which governed from 1993 to 2001, he held positions as

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

and

Foreign Minister 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 ...

. During the cabinet of Helle Thorning Schmidt from 2011 to 2015 he was Speaker 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 ...

. In June 2015 he was unanimously elected the

President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

presiding over the 70th session of the General Assembly beginning 15 September 2015.

Early life

Lykketoft was born out of wedlock and put up for adoption. He was adopted twice, since his first adoptive father died when he was only a few months old. The second time he was adopted by shopkeeper Axel Lykketoft and Martha Lykketoft. He was the only child in the family and had, according to himself, a safe and secure childhood. Lykketoft matriculated in mathematics from Frederiksberg Gymnasium, an upper secondary school, in 1964 and went on to study at 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. ...

. In 1971 he became Cand.polit. (a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in economics by the University of Copenhagen). At Copenhagen University Lykketoft became a member of Frit Forum, the Social Democratic student organisation. From 1965 to 1970 he was part of its management committee and he was its national chairman for the

academic year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

1968/69. From 1975 to 1981 he was department head in "The Economic Council of the Labour Movement", a Danish think tank made up of trade union leaders and Social Democratic MPs. He had been working at the think tank since 1966.

Political career

Member of the Folketing

On 20 January 1981 Prime Minister

Anker Jørgensen Anker Henrik Jørgensen (13 July 1922 – 20 March 2016) was a Danish politician who served at various times as prime minister and foreign minister of Denmark. Between 1972 and 1982 he led five cabinets as prime minister. Jørgensen was presiden ...

picked him to be Taxation Minister. He was minister for less than 20 months before the Social Democratic government resigned. In the 1981 general election he became MP for the

Copenhagen County Copenhagen County () is a former county ('' amt'') on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covered the municipalities in the metropolitan Copenhagen area, with the exception of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. Effective Jan ...

constituency. He has been member of the

(the Danish parliament) ever since, standing for election eleven times. Since 2007 he has been representing Greater Copenhagen greater constituency. In 1987 he unsuccessfully tried to be kingmaker at the election of a new leader of the Danish Social Democrats. The attempt put him in opposition to the new leader Svend Auken. Five years later he was more successful when his new candidate,

, challenged and defeated Auken at an extraordinary congress of the Social Democrats. After the resignation of the Conservative/Liberal government in January 1993 Lykketoft became Finance Minister in the cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen ( I, II, III, IV). He is the longest serving Finance Minister in modern Danish history. He became Foreign Minister in December 2000 and continued as such until the government lost the general election of 2001. After Poul Nyrup resigned Lykketoft was elected Leader of the Social Democrats, a position he held until he failed to unseat the Liberal/Conservative government of

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the prime minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became ...

at the general election of 2005. From 2005 to 2011 he was the Foreign Policy Spokesman for the Social Democratic parliamentary group. After the

2019 Danish general election General elections were held in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark on 5 June 2019 to elect all 179 members of the Folketing; 175 in Geography of Denmark, Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The elections took place te ...

, Lykketoft stepped down from his position as an MP in the Folketing, bringing an end to his nearly 40-year tenure.

Speaker of Folketing

In October 2009 he became member of "the Præsidium of the Folketing" (the unified leadership of the Danish parliament). And after the election victory of the

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Social Liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

coalition in the 2011 general election he became President of the Parliament of Denmark. As President or Speaker of the Folketing he has been on official visits to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

(2014),

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

(2014),

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

(2013),

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(2013), The

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

in Berlin (2013) and The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in Washington (2012). He has also been on work visits to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

(2014),

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

(2014),

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

(2013),

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, (2013),

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

(2012),

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

(2012),

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

(2012) and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

(2012).

UN General assembly

In March 2013, Lykketoft was nominated for the position of

by the

Danish government The Cabinet of Denmark (), officially the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark (), is the national cabinet of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has been the chief executive body and the government of the Danish Realm—Denmark proper together with the F ...

. He was the sole official candidate from the

Western European and Others Group The Group of Western European and Other States, also known as the Western European and Other States Group or WEOG, is one of the five United Nations regional groups. It is composed of 28 member states. Most of these are in Western Europe, but ...

and received their nomination in November 2014. On 15 June 2015, he made history by becoming the first Dane ever to be elected to this prestigious position, and oversaw the

Seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly The 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 15 September 2015. The President of the United Nations General Assembly, president of the United Nations General Assembly was from the Western European and Others Group. Organisa ...

. During his presidency, he would not resign as a Danish MP but rather take a leave of absence returning to the Folketing after his UN appointment has ended. He returned to the Danish parliament at the end of his United Nations presidency in October 2016.

Israel/Palestine visit

During his February 2014 visit to

he did not at the same time meet with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i officials, this made the speaker of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

Yuli Edelstein } Yuli-Yoel Edelstein (, ; born 5 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 2020 to 2021. One of the most prominent refuseniks in the Soviet Union, he was the 16th List of Knesset speakers, Speaker of the Kness ...

express regret of the fact that Lykketoft unlike other world leaders decided not to include Israel in his visit of the region. Edelstein further said: ''"I do not understand how a visit to Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, goes along with Denmark's democratic values."'' Lykketoft said that he was keen to hear both parts in the conflict and he had tried to schedule a meeting with the

speaker of the Knesset The speaker of the Knesset (, ) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who ...

. But he was told that Edelstein was unable to meet him during his visit. During an interview Lykketoft stated: ''"There was this Israeli reaction from the spokesman in the foreign ministry that it was kind of diplomatically impolite to go to Palestine without having an arrangement with the Israeli side."'' In December 2014 he was asked his opinion about the Swedish recognition of an independent Palestine state. He answered the interviewer:''"I think the movement in European parliaments and from the government of Sweden to recognize the State of Palestine is a reaction to the observation that the present Israeli government has no intention to contribute to formation of a sovereign Palestinian state, while this is expressed by the vast majority of member states in the United Nations through numerous resolutions."''

Personal life

He was married for the first time in 1967 to librarian Aase Toft. The family lived in

Albertslund Albertslund is a Copenhagen suburb in Albertslund Municipality, Denmark. It is located west of central Copenhagen, with a population of around 30,000. Albertslund is a planned community or new town mainly built in the 1960s and 1970s. The sub ...

and was next-door neighbors to his good friend

and his family. in January 1979 Aase Lykketoft died from an

intracranial hemorrhage Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) refers to any form of Hemorrhage, bleeding Internal bleeding, within the Human skull, skull. It can result from trauma, vascular abnormalities, hypertension, or other medical conditions. ICH is broadly categorized ...

. He has two children from his first marriage, Maja, born in 1969, and Kit, born in 1972. He also has five grandsons. Two years after his first wife died he got married for the second time, this time to Helle Mollerup, the ex-wife of Poul Nyrup. In 1986 he divorced Helle Mollerup and later married MP

Jytte Hilden Jytte Hilden (born 12 September 1942) is a Danish chemical engineer and politician (Social Democrats). She was elected member of the Folketing from 1979 to 1998, and was appointed Minister for Culture in Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Poul Oluf Nyrup ...

. From 1993 to 1997 they were both ministers in the Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen ( I, II, III). They divorced in 2004. Since 2005 Lykketoft has been married to author Mette Holm. They have written three books together.

Publications

*Editor of "Magtspil og Sikkerhed" (Power Play and Security), 1968 *Editor of "Kravet om lighed" (The Demand for Equality), 1973 *Author of "Skattereform '78?" (Tax Reform '78?), 1978 *Co-author of "Anno 2001 – en socialdemokratisk science fiction" (Anno 2001 – Social Democratic Science Fiction), 1986 *Author of "Sans og samling – en socialdemokratisk krønike" (Sense and Cohesion – A Social Democratic Chronicle), 1994 * Author of "Den danske model – en europæisk succeshistorie"
The Danish Model – a European success story
, 2006 * With Mette Holm **"Kina drager" (China allures), 2006 **"Kina – Kapitalisme med særlige kinesiske kendetegn" (China – Capitalism the Chinese way), 2008 **"Burma Myanmar", 2012

References

External links