{{Short description|Danish trade unionist and politician (1894–1965)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = | image_size = | office = Minister of Social Affairs | prime_minister = Erik Scavenius | predecessor = | successor = | term_start = 1942 | term_end = 1945 | birth_date = 24 October 1894 | birth_place = Kelstrup, Kirke Stillinge, Denmark | death_date = {{death date and age|23 February 1965|24 October 1894|df=y}} | death_place = Copenhagen, Denmark | resting_place = | party = Social Democrats (until 1945) | alma_mater = | spouse = }} '''Laurits Hansen''' (1894–1965) was a Danish trade unionist and politician, being a member of the Social Democrats. He served as minister of social affairs between 1942 and 1945, but he lost his party affiliation following World War II due to the claims that he had not been loyal to his party.
==Biography== Hansen was born in Kelstrup, Kirke Stillinge on 24 October 1894.<ref name=gravsted/> During his youth he was the chairman of the social democratic youth association.<ref name=gravsted/> He led the trade union movement during the period of the Nazi occupation of Denmark.<ref name=dsd20/> He was chairman of the Trade Unions Cooperative between 1939 and 1942.<ref name=dsd20/> He was close to the Germans and negotiated with them about the possibilities of coordinating the Danish trade union movement with the German Nazi Labor Front.<ref>{{cite web|title=Besættelsen 1940-1945|url=https://danmarkshistorien.dk/perioder/verdenskrigsepoken-1914-1945/besaettelsen-1940-1945|publisher=Danmarks Historien|access-date=29 June 2023|language=da}}</ref>
Hansen was made the minister of social affairs in 1942 following the demands of the Nazi figures.<ref name=dsd20/> He served in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Erik Scavenius.<ref name=dsd20/><ref>{{cite journal|author=Gunnar Leistikow|title=Denmark under the Nazi Heel|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/fora21&i=347|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=January 1943|volume=21|issue=2|page=341}}</ref> After World War II, he was accused of not being loyalty to the Social Democrats and being a collaborator of the Nazi regime.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Hans Kirchhoff|title=Omkring den socialdemokratiske historieskrivning 1940-1945|access-date=29 June 2023|magazine=Historie/Jyske Samlinger|issue=14|page=133|language=da|url=https://tidsskrift.dk/historiejyskesamling/article/view/39381/43394}}</ref> As a result, he lost all of his party positions.<ref name=gravsted/><ref name=dsd20>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Hans Kirchhoff|language=da |title=Laurits Hansen|publisher=Den Store Danske Encyklopædi|date=7 May 2020|url=https://denstoredanske.lex.dk/Laurits_Hansen}}</ref> Following this incident he worked as a cigar merchant and then as a real estate broker.<ref name=gravsted/> He died in Copenhagen on 23 February 1965.<ref name=gravsted>{{cite web|title=Laurits Johannes Julius Hansen|url=https://www.gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=lauritshansen |website=gravsted.dk|access-date=29 June 2023|language=da}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Laurits}} Category:1894 births Category:1965 deaths Category:Government ministers of Denmark Category:Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians Category:20th-century Danish businesspeople Category:Danish trade union leaders Category:20th-century trade unionists