Else Hammerich

Else Hammerich (born 7 September 1936) is a Danish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1989. Born in Frederiksberg, she was the seventh of eight children. The family was involved in the resistance movement during World War II; one of her brothers was killed by the Gestapo. She attended school primarily in Gentofte, but spent a year in a Catholic school in Tokyo while her parents were overseas providing humanitarian aid during the Korean War.[1]

Hammerich became a special education teacher after graduation.[2] As her teaching career began, she also began to get involved in politics, and was part of the grassroots campaign in protest of nuclear weapons. She was married in 1958, and had three children before being divorced a decade later; after the marriage ended she continued her teaching education, and graduated from Danmarks Lærerhøjskole, (Denmark School of Education). In 1971, she joined the Blaagaard Seminarium, and served as a faculty member there until 1978. She also joined the People's Movement against the EU upon its inception in 1972, but stayed politically independent in regards to Denmark's parties; she felt that the European Union was contradictory to the anti-nuclear movement that she supported.[1]

In 1979, Hammerich ran for the European Parliament, winning a seat with 78,164 votes. She aligned herself with the Technical Group of Independents, and became chairperson near the end of the five-year term. She ran for re-election in 1984, and finished first with 156,145 votes. She then served as chairperson of the Rainbow Group in parliament.[3] She also served as a member of the Political Affairs Committee, and focused on the Chilean women's resistance. She retired from politics after her term ended in 1989, finding the parties to be too polarized, and went on to found the Center for Conflict Resolution in 1994.[1]