Events in the year 2003 in Norway.

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

–

Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

– Haakon – from 25 November 2003 until 12 April 2004 (during the King's treatment for cancer and the subsequent convalescence period) *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

–

Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norway, Norwegian Lutheranism, Lutheran Religious minister, minister and Politics of Norway, politician. As leader of the Christian Democratic Party (Norway), Christian Democratic Party, he serv ...

(

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

)

Events

January

February

March

* 19 March – A man dies and four are injured in a blasting accident in

Namsos ( sma, Nåavmesjenjaelmie) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Some of the villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Kl ...

April

May

* 15 May - Discovery of high levels of

chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

whale meat Whale meat, broadly speaking, may include all cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) and all parts of the animal: muscle (meat), organs (offal), skin (muktuk), and fat (blubber). There is relatively little demand for whale meat, compared to ...

leads to

pregnant women Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but can ...

being warned not to eat it. President George W

* 25 May – After docking in Miami at 05:00, is severely damaged by a boiler explosion at 06:30, that kills 7, and injures 17 crew members. A few weeks later it is announced by NCL that she will never sail again as a commercial

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

June

* 23 June -

World Refugee Day World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on 20 June by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world. The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th anni ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

, together with the

Norwegian Refugee Council The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC, no, Flyktninghjelpen) is a humanitarian, non-governmental organisation that protects the rights of people affected by displacement. This includes refugees and internally displaced persons who are forced to flee ...

(NRC), set up a mock

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

in central

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. A number of activities took place inside the camp. The NRC, in co-operation with the Norwegian Post, launched a

stamp on June 20. The Refugee Council invited all ninth-grade students in

to participate in an essay and poem competition with the theme, "Refugee Youth". A

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

consisting of well-known Norwegian

authors An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

chose the best of the contributions, which will be presented in different contexts. Several activities were also launched at refugee reception centres throughout Norway to celebrate

. The Norwegian Scouts' Association organised a

fund-raising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

campaign for NRC.

July

August

September

* 15 September – Norwegian county council elections, and municipal and county elections are held throughout the country.

October

November

December

* 1 December – King

was announced to be suffering from

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become mali ...

. * 10 December –

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi wa ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

receives the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in Oslo, Norway. * 12 December – Keiko, the

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

whale who starred in the 1993 film ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures ...

'', dies of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

while in the Taknes Bay located at the Arasvikfjord in Norway, where he had lived in the recent years. * December ** '' Bare på jobb'', a Norwegian comedy film is released. at Filmweb.no (Norwegian) ** Plans to explore for

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

spark

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...

from

environmentalists An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

and

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

Popular culture

Sports

Music

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "I'm Not Afraid to Move On" written by Arve Furset and VJ Strøm. The song was performed by Jostein Hasselgård. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) returne ...

competed in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

2003, represented by

Jostein Hasselgård Jostein Hasselgård (born 24 March 1979) is a Norwegian singer. He was the winner of Norway's national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and he won Norway a fourth place in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the ballad ...

with the song "I'm Not Afraid to Move On". The song was chosen as the Norwegian entry for the 2003 contest through the

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It dete ...

contest.

Film

Literature

Television

Notable births

* 29 April –

Maud Angelica Behn Maud Angelica Behn (born 29 April 2003) is a member of the Norwegian Royal Family. She is the first child of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and her late husband Ari Behn and the eldest grandchild of King Harald V of Norway and Queen Sonja. ...

, daughter of

Ari Behn Ari Mikael Behn (; , or ; 30 September 1972 – 25 December 2019) was a Norwegian author, playwright, and visual artist. Known as Mikael Bjørshol until 1996, Behn achieved early literary success with his 1999 short story collection ''Trist so ...

and

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (born 22 September 1971) is a member of the Norwegian royal family, a businesswoman and a self-described clairvoyant. The only daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja, she is fourth in the line of successi ...

Notable deaths

*13 January – Andreas Holm, politician (born 1906) *24 January –

Rolf Kirkvaag Rolf Kirkvaag (20 September 1920 – 24 January 2003) was a Norwegian journalist, and a radio- and TV personality. He worked for NRK, the Norwegian state broadcasting network, between 1947 and 1959, and 1969 and 1990. From 1972 to 1985 he was en ...

, journalist and radio and television personality (born 1920) *13 February –

Axel Jensen Axel Buchardt Jensen (12 February 1932 – 13 February 2003) was a Norwegian author. From 1957 until 2002, he published both fiction and non-fiction texts which include novels, poems, essays, a biography, and manuscripts for cartoons and animated ...

, author and poet (born 1932) *3 March –

Kitty Petrine Fredriksen Kitty Petrine Fredriksen (10 January 1910 – 3 March 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. She served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a f ...

, politician (born 1910). *6 March –

Claus Helberg Claus Helberg (31 January 1919 – 6 March 2003) was a Norwegian resistance fighter and mountain guide. He was a member of Company Linge, a resistance commando unit that was best known for carrying out Norwegian heavy water sabotage during World Wa ...

, resistance fighter and mountain guide (born 1919) *17 March –

Anne-Olaug Ingeborgrud Anne-Olaug Ingeborgrud (28 April 1925 in Nes, Akershus, Nes – 17 March 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party of Norway, Christian Democratic Party. She was elected to the Storting, Norwegian Parliament from Aker ...

, politician (born 1925) *29 March – Herbjørn Sørebø, media personality (born 1933). *5 April – Sigurd Manneråk, politician (born 1942) *6 April –

Ole Otto Paus Ole Otto Paus (26 October 1910 – 6 April 2003), né ''Ole von Paus'', was a Norwegian General, diplomat and NATO official. He was head of the army group in the military intelligence service of the exile Norwegian High Command in London during th ...

, General and diplomat (born 1910) *14 April –

Olai Ingemar Eikeland Olai Ingemar Eikeland (23 July 1915 – 14 April 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party (Norway), Centre Party. He was elected to the Storting, Norwegian Parliament from Vest-Agder in 1961, and was re-elected in the 1962 revote. ...

, politician (born 1915) *22 April –

Ola H. Kveli Ola Hansen Kveli (23 April 1921 – 22 April 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party of Norway, Liberal Party and later the Liberal People's Party (Norway), Liberal People's Party. He was elected to the Stortinget, Norwegian Par ...

, politician (born 1921) *9 May –

Hans Engnestangen Hans Engnestangen (28 March 1908 – 9 May 2003) was a Norwegian speed skater and world champion. He held the world records over 500 and 1500 meters for more than 13 years. International championships At the 1932 Winter Olympics he participated ...

, speed skater and World Champion (born 1908) *14 May –

Ingvar Lars Helle Ingvar Lars Helle (12 April 1933 – 14 May 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party and later the Liberal People's Party. Helle was a member of Stavanger city council from 1965 to 1971. In the period 1967 to 1971 he was also a ...

, politician (born 1933) *24 May –

Arne Skouen Arne Skouen (18 October 1913 – 24 May 2003) was a Norwegian journalist, author, film director and film producer. Biography Arne Skouen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents were Peder Nikolai Skouen (1883-1978) and Jenny ...

, film director and journalist (born 1913) *30 May – Lars T. Platou, electrical engineer and politician (born 1920) *13 June –

Tor Stokke Tor Stokke (23 August 1928 – 13 June 2003) was a Norwegian film actor. He appeared in 27 films between 1956 and 1992. He is the father of actress Linn Stokke. Selected filmography * 1958: '' I slik en natt'' as a policeman * 1959: '' Th ...

, actor (born 1928) *27 June – Magne Aarøen, politician (born 1944) *12 August –

Håkon Kyllingmark Håkon Olai Kyllingmark (19 January 1915 – 12 August 2003) was a Norwegian military officer and businessman. He served as a politician for the Conservative Party and was elected to the Norwegian Parliament. Biography He was born at Kjelv ...

, politician and Minister (born 1915) *5 September – Harry Hansen, politician (born 1919) *9 September – Otto Lyng, politician (born 1926) *8 October – Petter Thomassen, politician and Minister (born 1941) *24 October –

Eva Haalke Eva Haalke (née Hansen; 2 April 1912 – 24 October 2003) was a Norwegian dancer and ballet teacher. She was born in Trondheim, and was a sister of painter Hjalmar Haalke, and sister-in-law of novelist Magnhild Haalke. She started learning b ...

, ballet teacher and dancer (born 1912). *10 November –

Edvard Beyer Edvard Freydar Beyer (6 October 1920 – 10 November 2003) was a Norwegian literary historian, literary critic, and professor at the University of Oslo from 1958 to 1990. Early and personal life Beyer was born in Haugesund and grew up in ...

, literary historian, literary critic and professor (born 1920) *3 December –

Kristine Rusten Kristine Rusten (6 July 1940 - 3 December 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. Born in Lom, Rusten was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oppland in 1977, and was re-elected on one occasion. At a local level, she was a m ...

, politician (born 1940) *24 December –

Gunnar Alf Larsen Gunnar Alf Larsen (27 December 1919 – 24 December 2003) was a Norwegian Labour Party politician. He was born in Oslo. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo in 1965, and was re-elected on two occasions. He had previously serv ...

, politician (born 1919)

Full date unknown

* Harald Magne Elstad, judge (born 1913)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 in Norway