Viggo Hørup

Who was Viggo Hørup?

Viggo Lauritz Bentheim Hørup, was a Danish politician, journalist and agitator. He was the father to Ellen Hørup. One of the most influential politicians of the Danish non-Socialist left wing.

He was the son of a North Zealandian schoolteacher but belonged to the relatively well-to-do middle class. Already as a student Hørup took interest in politics, early joining the party Venstre after a short conservative intermezzo. From the start he opposed both the middle and upper class of the capital and the National Liberal academic circles. After some failing attempts he was 1876 elected to the Danish parliament’s first chamber and kept his seat until 1892. Hørup soon had a leading position in Left and is regarded as one of ”the five Left leaders” with only the leader of the more traditional farmer wing Christen Berg as his equal. During the constitutional struggle against the prime minister Estrup from Højre he became one of the central figures.

First of all Hørup was a social liberal and anti-militarist in the Danish parliament.