Jakob Engel-Schmidt

Jakob Engel-Schmidt (born 24 October 1983) is a Danish politician and Member of the Folketing from the Moderates.^[1] Since 15 December 2022 he has been minister for culture in the Frederiksen II Cabinet.^[2]

Jakob Engel-Schmidt
Engel-Schmidt in 2025
Minister for Culture
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 December 2022
Prime Minister	Mette Frederiksen
Preceded by	Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen
Member of the Folketing
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2022
Constituency	North Zealand
In office 3 March 2016 – 5 June 2019
Preceded by	Morten Løkkegaard
Succeeded by	Mads Fuglede
Constituency	Greater Copenhagen
In office 15 August 2013 – 18 June 2015
Preceded by	Gitte Lillelund Bech
Constituency	Greater Copenhagen
Personal details
Born	(1983-10-24) 24 October 1983 (age 41) Birkerød, Denmark
Political party	Moderates Venstre (until 2022)

Political career

In the 2009 Danish local elections, he ran unsuccessfully in Rudersdal Municipality.^[3]

He was a Venstre parliamentary candidate in the Lyngby constituency in the 2011 Danish general election and won 2,234 personal votes, but not enough to win a seat. The radio host Jarl Cordua [da] endorsed him, calling him "an excellent liberal candidate".^[4]

On 15 August 2013, he instead entered the Folketing as a substitute for Gitte Lillelund Bech who resigned from parliament.^[5]

In 2022, he left Venstre and joined the Moderates.^[6] On 15 December, he was appointed minister of culture in Mette Frederiksen's second cabinet.^[7]

In 2024 he issued a statement in Berlingske newspaper expressing his belief that Russian athletes should be banned from major international sports evens including e-sports, he said "As long as Russia continues its illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, I do not believe that Russian athletes should be allowed to participate in international sports. This of course also applies to e-sports" ^[8][9]