Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam

Aki-Matilda Tilia Ditte Høegh-Dam (born 1996) is a Greenlandic politician representing the Siumut party. In June 2019, she was elected to the Folketing, Denmark's parliament, becoming its youngest member. Høegh-Dam studied political science at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 2019.[1][2]

Biography

Born on 17 October 1996 in Hillerød, Aki-Matilda Tilia Ditte Høegh-Dam is the daughter of Kim Høegh-Dam, a fisherman and seaman, and Bitten Høegh-Dam, a schoolteacher.[1] The youngest child in the family, has two brothers and two half-sisters on her father's side. She is half Danish and half Greenlandic with two Danish and two ethnically Greenlandic grandparents. She was brought up in Sisimiut on Greenland's west coast.[3] When she was 15, as a volunteer in Nakuusa (UNICEF's project in support of Greenlandic children),[4] she went on a trip around Greenland's coast during which she discussed politics with a friend. As a result, she decided the Siumut social democratic party was the one for her. After joining the party's youth organization, her interest in politics continued to grow.[2][5]

After graduating from high school, in 2015 she began studying political science at the University of Copenhagen. That year, she participated in the Miss Denmark competition. Although she finished in sixth place, the event did much to draw attention to her in Greenland.[6]

In the Danish general election on 5 June 2019, Høegh-Dam was one of two Greenlanders who succeeded in become members of the Folketing. Expressing strong support for Mette Frederiksen, head of the Social Democrats, she campaigned on the basis that Denmark should take more care of its responsibilities for Greenlanders. She also supports independence for Greenland.[7]

References
  1. >Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget). Accessed 2 August 2019.
  2. Ahrenkilde-Holm, Thue (31 July 2013). "Folketingets yngste medlem er fra Grønland: Jeg frygter, at jeg ikke kan holde, hvad jeg lover". Berlingske (in Danish). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  3. "Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam" (in Danish). Miss Danmark. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  4. "NAKUUSA er for alle i Grønland - uanset sprog, nationalitet og kultur" (in Danish). Naalakkersuisut. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  5. Søndergaard, Niels Krogh (14 August 2015). "Grønlandsk miss-kandidat med politisk erfaring" (in Danish). Sermitsiaq. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  6. Petersen, Ane-Marie (15 September 2015). "Aki-Matilda er på alle måder en vinder" (in Danish). KNR: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  7. "Miss Danmark-finalist bliver grønlandsk folketingsmedlem" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
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