Karen Platou (9 July 1879 – 10 June 1950) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

businesswoman and a politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Platou was the country's first woman to be elected Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. She was born in

Mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

, the daughter of treasurer Otto Michael Stoud Platou (1852 – 1903) and Ida Nanna Amalie Ræder (1852 – 1903). Among the many prominent members of her family were her uncle

Christian Emil Stoud Platou Christian Emil Stoud Platou (18 April 1861 – 28 July 1923) was a Norwegian railroad director and politician for the Conservative Party. Personal life He was born in Hamar as the son of banker Christian Fredrik Stoud Platou (1824–1883) and Eli ...

, rail road director and Conservative politician, and another uncle

Waldemar Stoud Platou Waldemar Stoud Platou (11 August 1868 – 13 July 1930) was a Norwegian businessperson. He had a long career in the brewery industry. Personal life He was born in Furnes, Norway, Furnes as the son of banker Christian Fredrik Stoud Platou (1824– ...

, brewer and businessman. She grew up in Kristiania – today called

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 ...

– and received her education here and in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. After finishing her education she started working as an architect, and also got involved in organisational and political work. From 1919 Platou had been a deputy representative in the Norwegian Parliament –

Storting 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 ...

et – for the

. In the 1921 election, she was elected Member of Parliament for the constituency of Kristiania, as the first woman in the country. The 1921 election was the first Norwegian election with

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

, which probably helped the chance of a woman being elected. Her first speech in Parliament was a criticism of then

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 ...

Otto Blehr Otto Albert Blehr (17 February 1847 – 13 July 1927) was a Norwegian attorney and newspaper editor. He served as a politician representing the Liberal Party. He was the 8th prime minister of Norway from 1902 to 1903 during the Union between Swede ...

's assertion that

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

was a luxury commodity. Platou believed it was an important part of children's diet. She was elected out of office after her first term was up, but continued for another term as deputy representative. In 1930 she established her own publishing business. 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 ...

, Platou worked actively for the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

, until she was exposed and had to flee to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in 1942. Platou died in 1950; she was never married.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platou, Karen 1879 births 1950 deaths People from Vest-Agder People from Mandal, Norway

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Female resistance members of World War II Norwegian businesspeople Norwegian resistance members Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Norwegian women in World War II 20th-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people