Mogens Lykketoft was born in 1946. He earned his high school diploma (with a 4.0 GPA) in 1964, and his Masters in Economics in 1971.
Beginning on December 21, 2000 he has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs in Denmark, under the government of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.
He has been a member of Denmark's Social Democratic Party since 1964. He served as Denmark's Minister for Finance from 1993 to 2000. Finally he wrote a book about his political experiences, "Sans og Samling - en Socialdemokratisk Krønike", which was published in 1994.
In 2002 he was chosen as the new leader of the Danish Social Democratic Party, succeeding Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.