Knud Jespersen

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For another person, see Knud J. V. Jespersen.
Knud Jespersen

Knud Jespersen (12 April 1926 in Sulsted[1] – 1 December 1977[2]) was a Danish politician. Jespersen served as chairman of the Communist Party of Denmark between 1958 and 1977 and was a member of parliament between 1973 and 1977.[3]

Childhood

Jespersen grew up in northern Jutland.[4] His mother worked as a domestic servant. Jespersen was raised by his grandparents, until he moved in with his mother and her husband at the age of thirteen.[5]

In the Resistance

During his teenage years Jespersen joined the

concentration camps.[4] His stepfather, Christian Andersen, was arrested by the Gestapo in a raid on the family residence in December 1943. He died in the Neuengamme concentration camp a year later.[5][6] Jespersen arrested on 27 March 1945 and was detained at the Frøslev Prison Camp.[5][6] Jespersen was scheduled to be transferred to Germany, but was released after the Liberation on 5 May 1945.[5]

Trade unionist

After the war Jespersen became a trade union activist.[3] Following his release he began to work as a casual labourer.[5] He was elected local union chairman of warehouse workers in Aalborg in 1953.[6][7] During the strike movements of the spring of 1956, he became known as an agitator.[5]

Communist Party leader

He became the chairman of the Communist Party district organization of

Central Committee of the party.[1] He was elected to the Aalborg municipal council in 1954.[5] When the Communist Party chairman Aksel Larsen was ousted from the party in 1958 Jespersen was named the new party chairman at the 20th party congress.[5][7] Jespersen's ascent to the party leadership had already been signaled a few months earlier, when the party substituted Larsen for him as the head of the delegation to the congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.[5]

As the leader of the Communist Party Jespersen reaffirmed the pro-Moscow line of the party, positioning the Danish party as one staunchest supporters of the Soviet Union in the European communist movement.

Charta 77 signatories in Czechoslovakia in 1977.[5]

Parliamentarian

During the 1960s the Communist Party was marginalized in Danish politics. However, in 1973 the party experiences something of a short-lived revival during the run-up to the referendum on the European Economic Community. The party regained parliamentary representation and Jespersen was elected to parliament from the Bispeeng constituency in Copenhagen. As a parliamentarian Jespersen gained the reputation of being a sharp and humoristic speaker.[5][7]

Death

Due to health reasons Jespersen was replaced in the party leadership by Ib Nørlund, who took over as acting chairman and parliamentary faction leader, on 26 November 1977.

1979 election), suggesting that Jespersen's charismatic leadership had contributed to previous electoral fortunes.[5]

In 1979 a collection of Jespersen's speeches and articles were published in the book Knud Jespersen - en af arbejderklassens sønner: udvalgte taler og artikler ('Knud Jespersen, a son of the working class: selected speeches and articles').[4][9] In 1978 a Soviet merchant ship was named Knud Jespersen in his honour.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Большая советская энциклопедия. Есперсен Кнуд
  2. ^ a b c Staar, Richard Felix. Yearbook on International Communist Affairs: 1978. Stanford (Calif.): Hoover Institution Press, 1978, p. 121.(Yearbook on International Communist Affairs)
  3. ^ a b Kinnell, Susan K. People in World History: An Index to Biographies in History Journals and Dissertations Covering All Countries of the World Except Canada and the U.S. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 1988, p. 306.
  4. ^ a b c d e World Marxist review, Vol. 23. 1980, p. 109.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Leksikon. Jespersen, Knud
  6. ^ a b c Thurah, Thomas. Anker Jørgensen: min verden fortalt i belleder. [København]: Gyldendal, 2010, p. 84.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Skou, Kaare R. Dansk politik A-Å: leksikon. [Kbh.]: Aschehoug, 2007, pp. 370–371.
  8. ^ Jørgensen, Thomas Ekman. Transformation and Crises: The Left and the Nation in Denmark and Sweden, 1956-1980. New York: Berghahn Books, 2008, p. 25.
  9. ^ Jespersen, Knud. Knud Jespersen - en af arbejderklassens sønner: udvalgte taler og artikler. [Kbh.]: Tiden, 1979.
  10. ^ Seatrade, Vol. 14. Seatrade Publications, 1984, p. 5.
  11. ^ Marine week, Vol. 5. IPC Industrial Press, 1978.
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