Agnete Laustsen

Agnete Laustsen (25 September 1935 – 23 October 2018) was a Danish Conservative People's Party politician. She served as a member of the Folketing representing the Søndre Storkreds constituency from October 1979 to March 1998. Laustsen was appointed the first Danish Minister of Health by Prime Minister Poul Schlüter, a post she held between September 1987 and June 1988, and was subsequently appointed as the first woman to hold the position of Minister of Housing between June 1988 and December 1990. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1989.

Biography Laustsen was born in Copenhagen, on 25 September 1935, Laustsen began studying at N. Zahle's School in 1954 and graduated with Master of Science and Candidate of Law degrees from the University of Copenhagen seven years later. Following her graduation, she was employed as a secretary in the Ministry of the Interior in 1961. Laustsen was promoted to the role of clerk and assistant lawyer nine years later and was appointed the Consumer Ombudsman's office manager in 1977. Laustsen was appointed by Poul Schlüter, the Prime Minister, to serve as Denmark's first Minister of Health from 10 September 1987 to 3 June 1988. She had to moderate the debate on AIDS in Denmark and talks concerning health sector priorities. Laustsen supported private and public hospitals and wished to emphasise preventative efforts in healthcare.

Laustsen was subsequently promoted by Schlüter to become the first woman to be made the Minister of Housing; she held the post from 3 June 1988 to 18 December 1990. She was able to raise funding for urban renewal even though residential areas had experienced heavy savings and also put much effort into preserving historical buildings and raising construction exports. Laustsen received much criticism, particularly from Kirsten Jacobsen, the spokesperson of the Progress Party, who accused her of over-borrowing. Following her resignation from government after the 1990 Danish general election, she was the DKF's foreign affairs spokesperson between 1990 and 1998 and became part of its cultural policy rapporteur in 1995. After losing her seat in the Folketing in the 1998 Danish general election, Laustsen was a member of the board of the nursing home Rosenborgcentret from 1998 to 2014, and authored multiple articles in Danish as well as in foreign magazines and newspapers. In 1989, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog.

Personal life From 20 January 1996 to his death in 2004, Laustsen was married to the director Svend Ole Tjellesen. She died on 23 October 2018.