Manuela Myriam Henri Ramin-Osmundsen (born 15 July 1963 in Antony, France) is a French-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, a ...

and former Minister of Children and Equality from the Labour Party. In 2008 she was the focus of a political scandal that ended with the forced resignation from her newly appointed minister position.

Early life and education

She is born in Antony, then in the

Seine department Seine was the former department of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. It is the only enclaved department of France at that time. Its prefecture was Paris and its INSEE number was 75. The Seine department was disbanded in 1968 ...

of France, in a family coming from the overseas department

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

. Her mother, Annie Ramin, is a former director of the

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the ...

regional university hospital ( CHU). She lived in France until 1991, after which she finally settled in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

with her Norwegian husband. She received a law-degree from the Panthéon-Assas University specializing in

European Union law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

and is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

of the Paris

Bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

. She later received a degree in

Special Education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

from the

Oslo University College Oslo University College ( no, Høgskolen i Oslo; HiO) was the largest state university college in Norway from 1994 to 2011, with more than 18,000 students and approximately 1800 employees.

Political career

In 1995 she was employed as a lawyer for the Ministry of Justice and the Police, this lasted until 1998 when she became the head of the official (SMED), a governmental agency which was to provide free legal-aid to people who were discriminated against. After which she returned to work for the Justice department before switching to work as a political aide in the

Ministry of Foreign affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. In the autumn of 2005 she joined the Labour Party. She was the director of the (UID) between 17 March and 21 May 2006. She was appointed as Minister of Children and Equality Affairs in the

second cabinet Stoltenberg Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet was the Government of Norway from 17 October 2005 to 16 October 2013. It was a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. On 9 Septembe ...

on 18 October 2007, replacing outgoing minister

Karita Bekkemellem Karita Bekkemellem (born 15 January 1965 in Lillehammer) is a Norwegian politician. She belongs to the Norwegian Labour Party, where she leads the women's network. Karita Bekkemellem was the Minister of Children and Families in Jens Stoltenber ...

and thus becoming the first ever

non-white The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

member of the Norwegian Cabinet.Children's minister quits under fire
Aftenposten, 14 February 2008

The "Ombudsman-affair"

Only four months into her new position she was forced to resign due to the controversy surrounding the appointment of the new

Ombudsman for Children in Norway A children's ombudsman, children's commissioner, youth commissioner, child advocate, children's commission, youth ombudsman or equivalent body is a public authority in various countries charged with the protection and promotion of the rights of chil ...

. The incumbent,

Reidar Hjermann Reidar Kvaal Hjermann (born 17 February 1969) is a Norwegian psychologist and former Children's Ombudsman of Norway. The son of Ingvar Hjermann, Reidar started working as a psychologist in 1998. In 2004 he was appointed Ombudsman for Children in ...

was expecting to be appointed to a new four-year term as was customary for all ombudsmen at the time. However Ramin-Osmundsen decided to instead award the position to the lawyer

Ida Hjort Kraby Ida Hjort Kraby (born 2 September 1960) is a Norwegian jurist. The daughter of Pål Kraby, Ida Hjort Kraby graduated from the University of Oslo as cand.jur. in 1988. She had worked as a research assistant there from 1986 to 1987 and was hired a ...

. Speculations soon arose regarding if this was due to Hjermann being too bothersome for the government (he had publicly criticized the government at numerous occasions). As this story was dying down, a new one erupted when the media discovered that Hjort Kraby and Ramin-Osmundsen were very close friends and had known each other since law-school, and regularly attending each other's parties. This was in clear violation of government rules, as she was required to recuse herself from the appointment process, when dealing with close relations. After these stories emerged, the

Storting 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 bas ...

opened a formal inquiry into the matter. Although she initially denied these reports, when confronted with further details she later acknowledged that they were indeed close friends and belonged to the same very small

clique A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ), in the social sciences, is a group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popular ...

of female lawyers living in Oslo's affluent west end. After prime minister

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...

reminded her of the severity of the situation, she resigned as minister on 14 February. Hjort Kraby resigned from her position before even commencing and Hjermann continued as ombudsman.

Personal life

Born a French citizen, Ramin-Osmundsen came to Norway in 1991 and became a Norwegian citizen early October 2007, 14 days before being appointed as Minister. She is married to the former

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 ...

politician and businessman .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramin-Osmundsen, Manuela 1963 births People from Antony, Hauts-de-Seine Living people Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Oslo University College alumni Ministers of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians French emigrants to Norway Norwegian women lawyers Women government ministers of Norway 21st-century Norwegian women politicians 21st-century Norwegian politicians Martiniquais lawyers Martiniquais women Martiniquais politicians