Reiulf Steen (16 August 1933 – 5 June 2014) 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 ...

author, ambassador and politician with the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centr ...

. He was active in the Labour Party from 1958 to 1990, serving as deputy party chairman from 1965 to 1975 and chairman from 1975 to 1981. Steen served as Norwegian ambassador to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

between 1992 and 1996.

Biography

He was born at

Hurum Hurum was a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. As of 1 January 2020 Hurum has merged with the municipalities of Røyken and Asker to form the new Asker Municipality located in the newly formed Viken county. The administrative centre of the ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

, Norway. His parents were Nils Steen (1889-1941) and Astrid Karlsen (1899-1986). The father, who died when Reiulf was 7 years old, had been president of the Norwegian Chemical Industry Workers' Union and deputy mayor of the municipality. Steen was elected leader of the regional Labour Party affiliate at age 14. He had worked in a factory and as a journalist for the newspaper '' Fremtiden'' in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

before entering politics in 1958. He rose quickly through the ranks of his party, chairing the Workers' Youth League from 1961 to 1964. He later served as minister of transportation from 1971 to 1972 and minister of commerce and trade from 1979 to 1981. From 1977 to 1993 he was a member of Parliament, representing the constituencies

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 of ...

and

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

. He was the vice president of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...

from 1978 to 1983 and chaired its committee on

from 1975 to 1990. He maintained a long-standing interest in Latin America and was appointed Norwegian ambassador to Chile in 1992, a tenure that lasted until 1996. He wrote columns for several of the country's leading newspapers, dealing with both national and international issues. He was also active in

ATTAC The Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières et pour l'Action Citoyenne (''Association for the Taxation of financial Transactions and Citizen's Action'', ATTAC) is an activist organisation originally created to promote the e ...

and chaired the Norwegian branch of the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History The origins of the ...

(1999–2001), Norsk Folkehjelp (1999–2003) and the Norwegian branch of the

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights The Helsinki Committees for Human Rights exist in many European countries (the OSCE region) as volunteer, non-profit organizations devoted to human rights and presumably named after the Helsinki Accords. Formerly organized into the International ...

(1986–1992). In later years, his memoirs and personal recollections related accounts of his own

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

problems and difficulties within the Labour Party.

Personal life

Reiulf Steen was married twice. In 1960 he married Lis Fridholm (1936-1985). Their marriage was later dissolved. In 1980 he married Inés Vargas. He died on 5 June 2014 and was survived by his wife, four children from his first marriage and step-family. Via his step-daughter, he was father-in-law to Labour politician

Raymond Johansen Raymond Johansen (born 14 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party who has been Governing Mayor of Oslo since 2015. A former member of the Socialist Left Party, Johansen previously served as the Oslo city commissioner for tr ...

, who was

Governing Mayor of Oslo The Governing Mayor of Oslo ( Norwegian: Byrådsleder) is the head of the city government of Oslo. The Governing Mayor appoints and removes the members (vice mayors) of the city cabinet and decides how the departments and the central administratio ...

. Steen was

non-religious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and anti ...

Bibliography

* ''Ørnen har landet'', 2003 * ''Jordskjelv'', 2000 * ''Underveis'', 1999 * ''Beretninger'', 1998 * ''Ideene lever'', 1992 * ''Maktkamp'', 1989 * ''Inés – og det elskede landet'', 1988 * ''Der hjertet banker'', 1986

References

External links

* 1933 births 2014 deaths People from Buskerud People from Hurum Politicians from Oslo Akershus politicians Members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway Ambassadors of Norway to Chile Norwegian non-fiction writers Ministers of Transport and Communications of Norway Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway Leaders of the Labour Party (Norway) Vice Presidents of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian politicians {{Norway-politician-1930s-stub