Peter Sabroe (23 January 1867 – 26 July 1913) was a Danish journalist, politician, and children's rights advocate. Sabroe was born near

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

as a 14-year-old to take up an apprenticeship as a shoemaker. He soon became a

social democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

and a member of a group of radicals called the ''Karl Marx Club''. In 1887, he became a journalist at a provincial newspaper, in

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwes ...

, where he eventually served as editor, from 1895 to 1908. Moving then to

Kolding Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial compani ...

, he became editor of the ''Kolding Socialdemokrat'' from 1908 to 1910. He spent the rest of his life in Copenhagen, where he worked at the ''Social-Demokraten'' from 1910 to 1913. Sabroe first took an elected office in 1900, as a member of the Aarhus town council, a position he held until 1909. He also served in the

Folketinget 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 a ...

, from 1901 to 1913. As a politician, Sabroe took the part of the common man, and was perhaps the best known and most controversial left-wing legislator of his time. He often traveled around Denmark, drawing attention to the conditions in which children lived and worked. Sabroe died in the Bramminge train accident in 1913.

Legacy

After his death, a fund was raised in his honor, and used to maintain a children's home. Every year, a prize is awarded in his honor (the Peter Sabroe prize) to persons or institutions who have made an important contribution to improving the lives of children in Denmark.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabroe, Peter 19th-century Danish journalists 20th-century Danish journalists 19th-century Danish newspaper editors 20th-century Danish newspaper editors 1867 births 1913 deaths Members of the Folketing Railway accident deaths in Denmark Aarhus municipal council members Burials at Nordre Cemetery People from Silkeborg Politicians from Aarhus