Knud Jespersen
Jespersen, Knud
Born Apr. 12, 1926, in the small town of Skulsted, near the city of Ålborg. Leader in the Danish labor movement.
Jespersen was the son of a worker. During the occupation of Denmark by fascist German invaders (1940–45), he led an armed group in the Resistance Movement. In 1942 he joined the Communist Party of Denmark (CPD). He was arrested by the Gestapo in March 1945. After Denmark was liberated, Jespersen participated in the activities of the country’s largest trade union, a union of warehouse and dock workers. In 1953 he became the chairman of one of the union’s branches in Ålborg. In 1951 he was elected the chairman of the Northern Jutland Regional Organization of the CPD, and in 1952 he became a member of the Central Committee of the CPD. In 1958 the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPD elected Jespersen as chairman of the party. [9—289—1]