Mette Margrethe Koefoed Bjørnsen (6 December 1920 – 29 March 2008) was a Danish author, conciliator and economist who was chair of the Conciliation Institution from 1988 to 1992. She worked as an education inspection at the Ministry of Trade's Supervision of the Business School in 1959 and was an associate professor of economics and statistics at the Social College in Copenhagen in 1964. Bjørnsen was an associate professor of economics and statistics head of department of the department of history at the Danish Teacher Training College between 1971 and 1990 and was chair of the Danish Writers' Association from 1991 to 1997. She was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1986 and was upgraded to Knight First Class in 1993.
Contents
Early life
Bjørnsen was born in Frederiksberg on 6 December 1920. She was the daughter of the civil engineer Hans Georg Koefoed and Frida Rigmor Harriet Heiberg Møller. Bjørnsen had two siblings and was raised in Lyngby, which is north of Copenhagen. She enrolled at Lyngby State School as a student in 1940. After Bjørnsen's mother insisted that her children become more educated, she went to the University of Copenhagen and studied economics. She gained employment, but her studying was during the German occupation of Denmark. Bjørnsen gained her Master of Science degree in 1947; she had been attracted to law during her education.
Career
She began her career working in the mornings at Statistics Denmark and the afternoons at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bjørnsen became employed in the statistics department of Mødrehjælpen through Vera Skalts. In 1959, she became an education inspector at the Ministry of Trade's Supervision of the Business School. Bjørnsen was appointed an associate professor of economics and statistics at the Social College in Copenhagen in 1964. She was associate professor and head of department of the department of history at the Danish Teacher Training College between 1971 and 1990. During this period, Bjørnsen also at the Royal Danish Naval Academy, was an external associate professor at the University of Copenhagen and also taught economics and statistics at the Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College. She also appeared on television from 1977 to 1978 to articulate what economics is to the general public.