Knud Heinesen

Knud Rasmussen Heinesen (born September 26, 1932 in Kerteminde , Region Syddanmark ) is a Danish economic manager and politician of the Social Democrats , who was among other things education, budget, finance minister and minister for public works .

Life

Studies, teacher and chairman of the broadcasting council

After attending Aurehøj Gymnasium in Gentofte Kommune in 1951, Heinesen began studying political science , which he completed in 1959 as Candidatus politices (Cand.polit.). He then became a teacher at the Workers' College (Arbejderhøjskolen) in Roskilde , before he began working in the labor movement and the trade union federation LO ( Lands Organizations i Danmark ) the following year . First he became secretary of Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (AE), an analysis and research institution and think tank of the labor movement and the LO, in 1960 , and between 1961 and 1962 he was state chairman of the social democratic student association Frit Forum .

In 1962 Heinesen returned to the Roskilde Workers' College and at the age of 30 became its rector. The work there and his private interests meant that he had a decisive influence on the cultural policy of his party. In 1963 he became a member of the Radio Council (Radiorådet) , the highest body of the public broadcaster Danmarks Radio , and served as its chairman between 1967 and 1971. In this role he was often at the center of public debates and thus achieved national recognition, although his leadership time was characterized by tolerance and objectivity, although his political inclination towards social democracy was known.

After his election as chairman of the Broadcasting Council, he resigned from his position as rector of the Roskilde Workers' College , and was initially managing director of the examination association (Det kooperative fællesforbund) from 1967 to 1968 and then from 1969 to 1971 lecturer at the Copenhagen Business School .

Deputy and Minister of Education and Budget

In the election of September 21, 1971, Heinesen was elected as a candidate of the Social Democrats for the first time to a member of the Folketing and represented the constituency of Søndre-Amagerbro .

On October 11, 1971, he was appointed Minister of Education (Undervisningsminister) in his third government by Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag and held this ministerial office under Krag's successor, Anker Jørgensen, in his first government until September 27, 1973. He resigned as Minister of Education in April 1972 Plans to reorganize the elementary schools, which included closing or merging individual schools. Furthermore, in May 1972 the planning council for research was founded and the Rask-Ørsted-Fund was dissolved and the distribution of research funds was redesigned. In doing so, he played a sustained role in the legislative process required for this and in the deliberations in the ministry's specialist groups.

As part of a cabinet reshuffle, he became the first budget minister (budget minister) and then held this office until the end of Jørgensen's term on December 19, 1973. His successor as Minister of Education was Ritt Bjerregaard . Then he was again a member of the Broadcasting Council between 1974 and 1975.

Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Works

After the election victory of the Social Democrats in the Folketing election of January 9, 1975, Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen appointed him Finance Minister ( Finance Minister ) in his second government on February 13, 1973 and held this ministerial office until the changes after the Folketing election of October 23, 1979 and the related replacement by Svend Jakobsen on October 26, 1979. He had previously stated that he would forego a new appointment to the fourth Jørgensen government due to differing views on financial policy .

However, he was immediately elected chairman of the social democratic group in the Folketing and at the party congress of the social democrats in September 1980 he was also elected vice-chairman of the party. As anchor Jørgensen's deputy, he had a lasting impact on the political and organizational course of the Social Democrats. In the meantime, he was also a member of the telephone company KTAS (Kjøbenhavns Telefon Aktieselskab) from 1980 to 1981 .

On December 15, 1981, he took over as Minister for Public Works (Minister for offentlige Arbejder) but a ministerial office in the fourth Jørgensen government, succeeding Jens Risgaard Knudsen .

In the fifth Jørgensen government formed on December 30, 1981, however, he took over the post of finance minister again just under two weeks later and held this post until the end of Jørgensen's term on September 10, 1982.

Economic manager

Heinesen, who was seen as a possible successor to Anker Jørgensen as chairman of the Social Democrats, resigned his mandate in the Folketing in 1985 and withdrew from political life.

Instead, he took on functions in the economy and was initially director of Københavns Lufthavne , the operating company of Copenhagen-Kastrup Airport and Copenhagen-Roskilde Airport , between 1985 and 1989 . He then served from 1989 to 1991 only CEO of tour operator Spies / Tjæreborg and between 1991 and 1995 Managing Director of BRFkredit A / S and the BRFholding A / S . In 1988 he was awarded the Berlingske daily newspaper's honorary prize.

In addition to these activities, Heinesen was a board member of TDC A / S , Denmark's largest telephone company, from 1994 to 2003 , and from 1995 to 2003 of the ATP pension fund (Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension) . He was also a board member of the financial service provider Finansieringsfonden af ​​1992 , between 1998 and 2001 of the social democratic daily Aktuelt and from 2000 to 2002 of the state railway company DSB ( Danske Statsbaner )

Web links

• Biography in Den Store Danske Encyklopædi (online version)