Einfrid Daghild Halvorsen (born 13 October 1937) is a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. She was mayor of Skien from 1983 to 1986, a State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Labour from 1986 to 1987 and Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs from 1988 to 1989. After quitting politics, she worked as secretary-general of Mental Helse from 1991 to 2005.

Career

She was born in Skien as a daughter of Einar O. Gunnestad (1910–1951) and Dagmar Stålhave (1902–1974). She started out as a trade unionist, chairing the Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices locally in Skien from 1971 to 1974. She was then a national board member from 1976, and central board member from 1980 to 1984. As a politician, she was a deputy member of Skien school board before serving on the city council (executive committee) from 1971 to 1979. She was elected as a deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

from the constituency Telemark for two terms, 1977–1981 and 1981–1985. She had a brief tenure as regular representative in October 1981, covering for

Finn Kristensen Finn Kristensen (born 24 July 1936) is a Norwegian electrician, trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Industry in 1981, from 1986–1988 and from 1992-1993 and Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 1990-19 ...

who was a member of the outgoing

Brundtland's First Cabinet Brundtland's First Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Cabinet Nordli, and sat between 4 February and 14 October 1981. The cabinet was the first in Norwegian history to be led by a woman. It was replaced ...

. In total Halvorsen met during 97 days of parliamentary session. After the

1983 Norwegian local elections Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway in 1983. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently. Results Municipal e ...

, from 1983 to 1986 Halvorsen served as mayor of Skien. Her term ended in May 1986, when

Brundtland's Second Cabinet Brundtland's Second Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Conservative Willoch's Second Cabinet, and sat between 9 May 1986 and 16 October 1989. It was replaced by the Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat cab ...

assumed office and Halvorsen was appointed as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Labour. She remained such until July 1987. From June 1988 she served as the Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs. She had to resign in April 1989, following an embezzlement case in her near family. She was then a central board member of the Labour Party until 1990. Halvorsen was also a board member of National Insurance Scheme Fund and

Norwegian Directorate of Labour Aetat (short for no, Arbeidsmarkedsetaten) was a Norwegian government agency responsible for battling unemployment. History It had its roots in the Directorate of Labour ( no, Arbeidsdirektoratet), which was founded in 1945. Its purpose was to " ...

during the 1980s. In the 2000s she was a board member of the Southern Norway Regional Health Authority, until the Minister of Health

Dagfinn Høybråten Dagfinn Høybråten (born 2 December 1957) is a Norwegian politician. He was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party 2004–2011. He was also Parliamentary leader from 2005 when he was elected as Member of Parliament representing Rogaland. ...

dissolved the board in January 2004 following disagreements between chief executive Steinar Stokke and two fractions of the board. After her political career, however, she is best known as secretary-general of the pro-mental health organization Mental Helse from 1991 to 2005. She was credited for building up Mental Helse from almost nothing to a large and viable organization. She was awarded the award Folkeopplysningsprisen in 2004. During her time as secretary-general, Halvorsen also chaired the

Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People The Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People ( no, Funksjonshemmedes Fellesorganisasjon, FFO) is an umbrella organization for interest organizations of disabled people in Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, ...

during the 1990s. From 1995 to 2003 Halvorsen also served a fourth and fifth term in Skien city council. Locally she is also a board member of Skien Airport, Geiteryggen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorsen, Einfrid 1937 births Living people Politicians from Skien Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Telemark Norwegian state secretaries Members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway