Former Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard is dead

Former minister and Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregaard has died.

This is reported by the family.

Ritt Bjerregaard, who has been fighting cancer in recent years, died peacefully at her home on Østerbro in Copenhagen on Saturday.

She was elected to the Danish parlament, Folketinget, for the Social Democrats in 1971. In 1973 she was appointed Minister of Education and despite much criticism in connection with the “Ritz case” she became Minister of Social Affairs in 1979.

From 1 January 1995 she was Commissioner for the Environment in the EU. A post she held until 1999.

Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen made her minister of food in 2000.

In 2006, Ritt Bjerregård became Lord Mayor of Copenhagen (Københavns Overborgmester) after Lars Engberg, who himself had taken over the post when Jens Kramer Mikkelsen left it prematurely. It became a single term in the post of Lord Mayor.

Ritt Bjerregaard is considered one of the most important social democrats of her generation and was a committed voice in the debate until her death.

Ritt Bjerregaard died at the age of 81. She is survived by her husband of many years, historian and author Søren Mørch.

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