Aaslaug Aasland (11 August 1890 – 30 August 1962) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She served as Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs from 1948 to 1953. She was born in

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway and together, the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sandnes lies ...

as a daughter of Hans Aasland (1855–1901) and Hanna Marie Nielsen (1857–1957). She took the examen artium in 1916, enrolled at the Royal Frederick University and graduated with the

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree in 1922. She worked for the district stipendiary magistrate in

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

for a short time, and then worked for the

Norwegian National Women's Council The Norwegian National Women's Council ( no, italic=no, Norske Kvinners Nasjonalråd) was founded on 8 January 1904 as an umbrella organization for the various Norwegian women's associations. It was established by Gina Krog whose international co ...

from 1924 to 1931, as a prison inspector from 1931 to 1936 and labour inspector from 1936 to 1945. In 1945 she briefly served as the director of Bredtveit women's prison, which had been a concentration camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

's occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. Later in 1945, when Gerhardsen's Second Cabinet assumed office, Aasland became a consultative minister in the

Ministry of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in Sovereign state, states where the government is divided into Ministry (government department), ministries or departments. While th ...

. She held this post until 1948, when she succeeded Sven Oftedal as

Minister of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of s ...

. She was the first female head of a

government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...

( Kirsten Hansteen had preceded Aasland as minister in 1945, but as consultative minister), and also the first female government minister belonging to the Labour Party. She was also a member of

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 ...

city council from 1945 to 1947. Assessments of Aasland's accomplishments in the position have been mixed. According to historian and political scientist

Trond Nordby Trond Nordby (born 6 July 1943) is a Norwegian historian and political scientist. He graduated candidatus philologiæ in 1972, and received his PhD in 1984. He worked as a research fellow and lecturer of history at the University of Oslo from 197 ...

she was a particularly weak government minister, as she was "not able to carry through anything" (this claim was built on interviews with Aasland's successors Rakel Seweriin and Gudmund Harlem). She also served briefly as acting prime minister in 1953. With this she became the first woman to be acting prime minister in Norwegian history. After stepping down as government minister, Aasland worked as an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs. She was also a board member of the Norwegian People's Aid. She died in August 1962 in Oslo.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aasland, Aaslaug 1890 births 1962 deaths Labour Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Government ministers of Norway Norwegian civil servants University of Oslo alumni People from Sandnes Women government ministers of Norway 20th-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people