Astrid Gjertsen (14 September 192817 June 2020) was a Norwegian-Danish politician who served as a member of the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

as a member of 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 ...

from 1969 to 1989. From 1981 to 1986, she served as the Minister of Consumer Affairs and Administration. In 2013, Gjertsen was named as the ninth most important woman in Norwegian history by ''

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 ...

''.

Early life

Astrid Gjertsen was born on 14 September 1928, in

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, to Senius Spaabæk and Helga Mogensen. She graduated from high school in Horsens in 1946. In 1945, she worked for the

Youth Red Cross Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

where she met John Herbert Gjertsen, a Norwegian who had been a prisoner of war in a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

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 ...

since 1942 for his involvement in a resistance movement. On 21 September 1946, she married Gjertsen. During her marriage, she lived in Oslo, Norway, and later in Borøya, Aust-Agder, Norway.

Career

Local politics

In 1967, Gjertsen was elected to the

Tvedestrand is municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the town of Tvedestrand. There are many villages in the municipality including Dypvåg, Fiane, Gjeving, Gødders ...

municipal council and served until 1975. From 1972 to 1975, she served as the leader of the Conservatives in Tvedestrand.

Parliament

In 1969, she was elected as a deputy representative to the

from

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

, and later as a parliamentary representative in 1973, as a member of the

. From 1978 to 1982, she served as the 2nd Deputy Chairman of the Right. In 1974, she served as a deputy representative to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. In 1978, she served as a member of the parliamentary delegation to the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomou ...

. On 14 October 1981, she became the Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumers and Administration. She was one of four women in

Kåre Willoch Kåre Isaachsen Willoch (; 3 October 1928 – 6 December 2021) was a Norwegian politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986 and as leader of the Conservative Party from 1970 to 1974. He previously served as the M ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. During her tenure, the telephone monopoly was disbanded; she supported deregulation, and supported allowing for longer

shopping hours Customs and regulations for shopping hours (times that shops are open) vary between countries and between cities. Shopping days and impact of holidays Some countries, particularly those with predominantly Christian populations or histories, do ...

and

Sunday shopping Sunday shopping or Sunday trading refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognises as a day of rest. Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the worl ...

. On 18 April 1986, she resigned from her ministry position and was convicted for turning in

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

32,061 worth of fraudulent taxi receipts. She was given a 45-day

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

and paid the money back; the punishment was higher than usual due to her political position. Gjertsen stopped being a deputy representative in 1989.

Later life

In a 2013 ranking compiled by the political editors of ''

'', Gjertsen was rated the ninth most important woman in Norwegian history. On 17 June 2020, she died in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

, Norway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjertsen, Astrid 1928 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Danish emigrants to Norway Government ministers of Norway Members of the Storting Women government ministers of Norway Women members of the Storting