Guro Fjellanger (26 January 1964 – 16 April 2019) was a Norwegian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. She served as

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

in the

first cabinet Bondevik Bondevik's First Cabinet governed Norway between 17 October 1997 to 17 March 2000. It was led by Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, and consisted of the Christian Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party The Liberal Party is a ...

from 1997 to 2000. She was a private consultant and a board member of several government agencies and organisations, and a member of two government-appointed commissions.

Early life

Fjellanger was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

as the daughter of Håkon Fjellanger, a professor, and Jorunn Carlsen, an interior decorator. She grew up in

Stokmarknes is a town and the administrative centre of Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the northern coast of the island of Hadseløya and on the small, neighboring island of Børøya. In 2000, Stokmarknes received "town stat ...

and graduated high school in 1984. She later earned a degree in history from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1990.

Career

In 1985, Fjellanger was appointed as secretary of the Young Liberals, the youth wing of the Liberal Party. From 1986 to 1988 she chaired the organization. In 1988, she became vice president of the organization

Nei til EU Nei til EU ( en, No to the EU) is the main Norwegian interest group opposing a future Norwegian accession to the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic uni ...

, which opposes Norwegian 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 de ...

. She was then secretary-general from 1991 to 1995. In 1994 Fjellanger became a member of the central committee of the Liberal Party. She served as her party's information director in 1995, and was vice president of the party from 1996 to 2000. In 1996 she also worked briefly as a manager in the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature. Following the 1997 general election when Magne Bondevik established his first cabinet, Fjellanger was appointed as

. On 29 April 1998, she signed the Kyoto Protocol on behalf of Norway. She left the cabinet when the Bondevik's government lost a

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in March 2000. In the same year she stepped down as deputy leader of the Liberal Party. From 2002 to 2004 she was the director of the Norwegian Centre Against Ethnic Discrimination, a government agency. She was a member of the board of the Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers from 1996 to 1997, and was chair of the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (2001–2007) and Ecolabelling Norway from 2004. Fjellanger was also a board member of the

Norwegian Consumer Council The Consumer Council of Norway (Norwegian: ''Forbrukerrådet'') is a Norwegian government agency and consumer protection organisation established in 1953. It works to increase consumer influence in society, to contribute to consumer-friendly develo ...

(2008–2012) and the

Oslo University Hospital Oslo University Hospital ( no, Oslo universitetssykehus; OUS) is a university hospital in Oslo, Norway. With over 24,000 employees it is the largest hospital organization in Europe. It is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University ...

from 2011. She was President of the

Forum for Women and Development The Forum for Women and Development ( no, Forum for Kvinner og Utviklingsspørsmål), often known as FOKUS Kvinner, is a Norwegian non-governmental organization aimed at spreading information on women-centered development cooperation and to be a c ...

(2014–2016) and a member of the city council of

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 ...

from 2007 to 2015. She was a member of two government-appointed commissions on the regulation of medical research and protection against discrimination of the disabled.

Personal life

Guro Fjellanger was born with

spina bifida Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, men ...

, a dysfunction of the

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the sp ...

which inhibits normal walking. She learned to walk to a certain degree, she later used a wheelchair exclusively. When she became Minister of the Environment she became the first Norwegian government minister with a disability. In 2007 she notably won a lawsuit against the state, who in 2004 had refused to grant her insurance coverage with

Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund ( no, Statens Pensjonskasse) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the extra pensions paid to state employees. There are in excess of one million members, and it has total assets of NOK 270 billio ...

. In a November 2018 op-ed for ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...

'', Fjellanger wrote that she has "not been constantly, seriously ill for the past 54 years though he haslived with spina bifida." She revealed that she had cancer and recently contracted serious infections and atrial fibrillation. She died on 16 April 2019, aged 55.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fjellanger, Guro 1964 births 2019 deaths Ministers of Climate and the Environment of Norway Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Directors of government agencies of Norway Politicians with disabilities People with spina bifida People from Hadsel Women government ministers of Norway Government ministers with disabilities