Sonja Aase Ludvigsen (7 February 1928 – 12 July 1974) 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 ...

politician, a member of the Labour Party.

Career

Ludvigsen was born in

Vestby Vestby is a municipality in former Akershus now Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Follo traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vestby. General information Name The municipality (originally t ...

in 1928. After completing her education she did various white-collar jobs before obtaining employment with Vestby municipality where she was a tax adjuster from 1958 to 1965. She was a member of Vestby

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

from 1955 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1972, and a member of the school board from 1960 to 1968. She was a member of the Workers' Youth League central board from 1958 to 1964 and the Labour Party central board from 1965 to 1974. Ludvigsen served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Akershus during the terms 1958–1961 and 1961–1965 before being elected in 1965. During her first term she was a member of the

Standing Committee on Transport and Communications The Standing Committee on Transport and Communications ( no, Transport- og kommunikasjonskomiteen) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to transport, postal services, telecommunications, elect ...

. She was re-elected in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and again in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

. She spent her second term as a member of the Standing Committee on Industry from 1969 to 1971, then as chair of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs and member of the Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Affairs from 1971 to 1973. During her third term she did not attend parliamentary sessions at all but served as Minister of Social Affairs in Bratteli's Second Cabinet from October 1973. She died in office, and was replaced in Parliament by

Thor-Eirik Gulbrandsen Thor-Eirik Gulbrandsen (15 July 1940 – 25 July 2014) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. Gulbrandsen was born in Fjære. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus in 1977, and was re-elected on three occasions ...

. Ludvigsen chaired the now-defunct government agency Likestillingsrådet from 1972 to 1973, and from 1973 to 1974 she was a deputy member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Ludvigsen died when only 46 years old having been suffering from a terminal disease, a condition she knew about before taking office as Minister of Social Affairs.

Tor Halvorsen Tor Halvorsen (24 November 1930 – 4 November 1987) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. Biography He was born in Skien. He started his working career in a shoe factory in 1946. In 1952 he was hired as a plumber ...

was appointed acting Minister in April, but no successor had been named a month after Ludvigsen's death. In August 1974 the newspaper ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' wrote that the "only thing which can be said to be certain now, is that the new Minister of Social Affairs will be a woman". This proved to be an inaccurate statement as three weeks later a man, Tor Halvorsen, was named as the permanent Minister of Social Affairs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludvigsen, Sonja 1928 births 1974 deaths People from Vestby Labour Party (Norway) politicians Akershus politicians Members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway Women government ministers of Norway 20th-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians Women members of the Storting