Marit Eli Paulsen (; 24 November 1939 – 25 July 2022) was a Norwegian-born Swedish journalist, author and politician for the Liberals. She was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from 1999 to 2004 and from 2009 to 2015. She was a well-known figure in the Swedish public debate on environmental and food quality issues, initially as a non-partisan, and was an avid proponent of Swedish membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

during the EU membership referendum campaign in 1994. She grew up in Oslo, which was occupied by Germany during much of her earliest childhood. Two of her elder siblings were active in the youth wing of

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such a ...

. She moved to Sweden in the 1960s, and worked at the

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...

Smedjebacken Smedjebacken is a locality and the seat of Smedjebacken Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,100 inhabitants in 2010. Geographically, the town Smedjebacken is situated by the lake Barken, with an area of , which in turn belongs to the K ...

for seven years. She went through a two-year

Folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...

education in 1970–72. In 1998 she joined the Liberal People's Party, and served as 2nd Vice President of the party 1999–2007. In the 2009 European Parliament elections, she was elected to the European Parliament as top candidate of the list. She gained more personal votes than any other Swedish candidate. Paulsen has written more than 20 books, including novels and non-fiction about environmental protection and other societal issues. Her debut novel, ''Du människa?'' (published in 1972), describes the life of a female shift worker. Her book ''Liten Ida'' (1979) is a semi-autobiographical novel set in Norway during the German occupation; it was made into a movie in 1980.

Personal life

Paulsen was married to her second husband, Sture Andersson, since 1973, and has 10 children, including biological children, step children and adopted children. She lived at a small farm in Yttermalung,

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland Värmland () also known a ...

. Paulsen died on 25 July 2022 at the age of 82.

References

External links

Presentation of Marit Paulsen from the Swedish liberal party (Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulsen, Marit 1939 births 2022 deaths Liberals (Sweden) politicians Swedish Social Democratic Party politicians Norwegian emigrants to Sweden Liberals (Sweden) MEPs MEPs for Sweden 1999–2004 MEPs for Sweden 2009–2014 MEPs for Sweden 2014–2019 20th-century women MEPs for Sweden 21st-century women MEPs for Sweden Politicians from Oslo