Svend Gunnarsen Auken (; 24 May 1943 – 4 August 2009) was a Danish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He represented 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 ...

as a member of the Danish parliament (

Folketinget The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral List of legislatures by country, national legislature (parliament) of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper to ...

) from 1971 until his death. He was married to journalist and editor Bettina Heltberg from 1966 to 1993. At his death he was married to film director Anne Wivel. He had four children. Margrete Auken is his sister. He died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

on 4 August 2009.

Political career

Auken held a degree in political science from the University of Aarhus and also taught there for a period in the very early 1970s. He was Minister of Employment from 1 October 1977 to 10 September 1982 in the Cabinet of Anker Jørgensen II, III, IV, and V. In 1987 Svend Auken succeeded Jørgensen as leader of the Danish

, at that time an opposition party to the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Poul Schlüter. After making big gains in the 1990 general election, he was subsequently unable to put together a workable coalition, partly because of bad personal relations with prominent politicians in the traditional coalition party of the Social Democrats, ''

Det Radikale Venstre The Danish Social Liberal Party (, RV, ) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905. Historically, the centrist party has played a central role in Danish politics and ...

'' (The Social Liberal Party of Denmark). His position as leader of the Social Democrats was challenged in 1992 by

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 ...

, who went on to win the internal election. That gave Auken the dubious distinction of being the first Social Democratic leader since 1910 to not become prime minister. (Subsequently, this has happened to

Mogens Lykketoft Mogens Lykketoft (; born 9 January 1946) is a Danish politician who served as Leader of the Social Democrats (Denmark), Social Democrats (''Socialdemokraterne'') from 2002 to 2005. He succeeded Poul Nyrup Rasmussen as party leader. After losing ...

, leader from 2002 to 2005, as well.) Poul Nyrup Rasmussen went on to become Prime Minister of Denmark in 1993, and Auken served as Minister for the Environment from 25 January 1993 to 27 September 1994 in the Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I and was Minister for the Environment and Energy from 27 September 1994 to 27 November 2001 in the Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen II, III and IV. After the defeat of Rasmussen's government in the general election of 2001, Svend Auken continued to serve as a member of the Danish parliament. He was the EU-affairs spokesman of his party until his death, and he maintained a high profile on environmental issues. Svend Auken was generally acknowledged to be one of the most naturally gifted and charismatic Danish politicians of his generation, and he is sometimes referred to as "the best Prime Minister Denmark never had". He is one of the few Danish politicians to be honoured in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton Hoyer ( ; born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981. He also served as House Majority Leader from 2007 to 20 ...

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