She was born in Ryde as a daughter of priest Ankiær Hareskov (1903–44) and politician Meta Hjemdal (1912–2005).
Spurned by her mother, she commenced studies of classical philology at the University of Copenhagen in 1956.
From 1974 she had a research grant to work with Androkli Kostallari and the Academy of Sciences of Albania.
She became the first female professor in classical philology in Denmark when assuming this position at the University of Odense in 1993.
[1] Politically, Minna Skafte Jensen aligned with communist Albania after working there, and was a board member of the Denmark–Albania Friendship Society until its dissolution in 1991.