Edith Bonnesen

Edith Bonnesen née Andersen (1911–1992) was a Danish civil servant and member of the Danish resistance during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II. She contributed to the illegal newspaper De frie Danske, worked for the Danish-Swedish Refugee Service and joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Arrested but released on several occasions, she escaped from Copenhagen's Gestapo headquarters in August 1944.

Bonneson was awarded the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom for her work in the resistance movement.

Since she had been identified by the Gestapo, Bonnesen left Denmark for neutral Sweden where she was employed as a secretary at the American consulate in Helsingborg. She was aided in her escape from Denmark by fellow resistance member Jutta Graae. Unofficially, she operated a radio, receiving messages from Denmark and passing them on to London. After the American consul was called back to the United States at the beginning of 1945, Bonnesen acted as consul until the liberation of Denmark. She then returned to Copenhagen where she worked with the Special Forces Mission until the autumn of 1945.

Post-war activity In 1946, Bonnesen was employed by the textile firm Fiedlers Kattuntryk where she later headed the export department. In 1952, she had to leave as her hearing was seriously impaired as a result of an injury from a shooting incident during the German occupation. After learning to lip-read, she was employed as a secretary and later as an official by the Ministry of Defence until her retirement in 1975. Bonnesen partially recovered her hearing after an operation in 1963.

Edith Bonnesen died in Copenhagen on 20 February 1992.

Awards Bonneson was awarded the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom for her participation in the resistance movement.