Former Danish MP and lawyer Laue Traberg Smidt dies at 81

Laue Traberg Smidt, a former member of Denmark’s parliament for the Venstre party and a prominent lawyer, has died at the age of 81, his son Kåre Traberg Smidt announced on Facebook.

A member of the Folketing from 1988 to 1990, Traberg Smidt gained attention for refusing to support the re-election of Erik Ninn-Hansen as parliamentary speaker amid the Tamil case scandal. His political career, though brief, left a lasting mark.

Beyond politics, Traberg Smidt served as Tunisia’s honorary consul, chaired a theatre board, and led the Danish Crafts Council in the 1970s and 1980s, establishing himself as a forceful public figure. In 1998, he was appointed secretary-general of Save the Children Denmark but was dismissed two years later after an audit revealed excessive spending on entertainment, including visits to Parisian nightclubs. He claimed the expenses were part of an investigation into child prostitution.

Following his dismissal, Traberg Smidt founded his own law practice, stating that no other firm would hire him. As a lawyer, he made headlines for securing the acquittal of the al-Aqsa association on terrorism financing charges and for filing a police complaint against Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) in 2004 over its airing of a clip from Theo van Gogh’s controversial film Submission. Though he initially claimed to represent 20 anonymous Muslim plaintiffs, he later admitted to acting alone and faced professional sanctions.

His son described him as “a cork that kept breaking the surface,” a relentless figure who “tested the limits of what was possible” and lived a life defined by adventure, controversy, and an unyielding drive.