page_title: Odense
section_title: Public thought and politics
hierarchical_section_title: Odense / Notable residents / Public thought and politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Niels Helveg Petersen, Danish politician from Danish Social Liberal Party Dansk: Niels Helveg Petersen, dansk politiker fra Det Radikale Venstre
context_page_description: Odense is the third-largest city in Denmark.
  It has a population of 180,302, and is the main city of the island of Funen. By road, Odense is located 45 kilometres north of Svendborg, 144 kilometres to the south of Aarhus and 167 kilometres to the southwest of Copenhagen. The city is the seat of Odense Municipality and was the seat of Odense County until 1970, and Funen County from 1970 until 1 January 2007, when Funen County became part of the Region of Southern Denmark. Odense has close associations with Hans Christian Andersen who is remembered above all for his fairy tales. He was born in the city in 1805 and spent his childhood years there.
  There has been human settlement in the Odense area for over 4,000 years, although the name was not mentioned in writing until 988, and by 1070, it had already grown into a thriving city. Canute IV of Denmark, generally considered to be the last Viking king, was murdered by unruly peasants in Odense's St Alban's Priory on 10 July 1086. Although the city was burned in 1249 following a royal rivalry, it quickly recovered and flourished as a centre of commerce in the Middle Ages.
context_section_description: Jørgen Sadolin (c.1490–1559) a Danish reformer 
  Frants Berg (1504–1591) clergyman, rector in Odense 1581, Bishop of Oslo 1548 to 1580
  Jacob B. Winslow (1669–1760) a Danish-born French anatomist.
  Ida Falbe-Hansen (1849–1922) a Danish educator, philologist and women's activist
  Lise Østergaard (1924–1996) a psychologist and politician 
  Niels Helveg Petersen (1939–2017) politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1993 to 2000
  Vikram Kaur Khalsa (born 1943 as Kristen Lindholm), former actress,  now Sikh theologian
  Bendt Bendtsen (born 1954) a Danish politician and MEP from 2009 until 2019
  Lars Christian Lilleholt (born 1965) politician, former Minister of Energy, Utilities and Climate.
  Jeanette Varberg (born 1978) archaeologist, curator at the National Museum of Denmark
caption: Niels Helveg Petersen, 2008
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