Guri Hjeltnes (born 23 October 1953) is a Norwegian journalist and historian. Having mainly researched Norwegian World War II history during her career, she is a professor of

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

at the

BI Norwegian Business School BI Norwegian Business School () is the largest business school in Norway and the second largest in all of Europe. BI has in total four campuses with the main one located in Oslo. The university has 845 employees consisting of an academic staff o ...

since 2004. She has also spent considerable time as a journalist and commentator, currently in ''

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 ...

''. She became director of the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities in 2012.

Career

Guri Hjeltnes was born in Stavanger. She worked as a journalist in ''

Arbeiderbladet ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

'' from 1979 to 1985, and has also worked for other newspapers on a freelance basis. From the mid-1980s she concentrated mainly on research, although she worked part-time for ''

'' from 1991 as a book reviewer.Profile
–

She was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies from 1999 to 2004, including a stint as

visiting scholar In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

from 2000 to 2002. In 2002 she also took the dr.philos. degree. In 2004 she was hired in ''Verdens Gang'' on a full-time basis, but after a few months she left to become a professor of

at the

. She is also vice rector there, and still works as a commentator in ''Verdens Gang''. The bulk of her authorship pertains to Norwegian World War II history. Her first major work was ''Den norske nasjonalsosialismen'', published in 1982 together with Hans Fredrik Dahl and

Bernt Hagtvet Bernt Hagtvet (born 5 March 1946) is a Norwegian political scientist. He is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Oslo. Among his areas of interest are European politics, extremist movements and human rights. He was born in ...

. In 1984 she published ''Hver fredag foran porten'' together with Wanda Heger. For this they were awarded the Gyldendal Documentary Prize. Hjeltnes then published ''Hverdagsliv'', volume five of ''Norge i krig'' (1986) and then ''Avisoppgjøret etter 1945'' (1990), examining the role of Norwegian newspapers during and after the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

. Her next major work were volume three and four of ''Handelsflåten i krig 1939–45'': ''Sjømann — lang vakt'' (1995) and ''Krigsseiler — Krig, hjemkomst og opprør'' (1997). In 2000 Hjeltnes and Berit Nøkleby wrote ''Barn under krigen''. Hjeltnes also contributed to the ''

Norsk krigsleksikon 1940–45 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 ...

'', an encyclopedia published in 1995. In 2003 she was among the writers of ''3 uker i desember: en kritisk gjennomgang av medienes rolle i den såkalte Tønne-saken'', a critical overview on the role of the media in connection to the death of politician

Tore Tønne Tore Tønne (5 March 1948 – 20 December 2002) was the Norwegian Minister of Health and Social Affairs (responsible for social affairs) from 2000 to 2001 in Jens Stoltenberg's first cabinet. Tønne committed suicide Suicide is the act ...

. After her appointment at the BI Norwegian Business School, she has taken more interest in media studies, including topics such as

media convergence Technological convergence is the tendency for technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. For example, watches, telephones, television, computers, and social media p ...

. Hjeltnes is a member of the board of the Fritt Ord Foundation, and has chaired the SKUP Foundation.

Personal life

Hjeltnes is married to

, a

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hjeltnes, Guri 1953 births Living people Norwegian journalists Norwegian women historians Norwegian business theorists People from Stavanger Academic staff of BI Norwegian Business School 20th-century Norwegian historians