Annette Thommessen (20 May 1932 – 6 December 1994) was a French-born organizational leader who settled in Norway. She was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

to Maurice Arosa Roosevelt and Raymonde Schaeffer, and married Henrik Peter Thommessen in 1953. She moved to Norway in 1954, and was the mother of politician Olaf Thommessen. From 1978 onwards she was engaged in the treatment of the

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its ...

, refugees from Vietnam after the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. She initiated the establishment of the Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers, which she chaired from 1984 to 1994. She received the

Fritt Ord Award Fritt Ord Award consists of two prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation (''Stiftelsen Fritt Ord''). Two prizes are awarded in support of freedom of speech and freedom of expression; the Fritt Ord Award ( no, Fritt Ords pris) and the Fritt Or ...

in 1992, and the Humanist Award in 1993.

References

1932 births 1994 deaths People from Paris French emigrants to Norway Norwegian human rights activists {{Norway-activist-stub