Kristin Krohn Devold (born 12 August 1961 in

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrativ ...

) is a former Minister of Defence of Norway. She was elected to 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 bas ...

from

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 ...

in 1993, and was re-elected on two occasions as a representative for Conservative Party. From 2006 to 2013 she was the secretary-general of the

Norwegian Trekking Association The Norwegian Trekking Association ( no, Den norske turistforening, DNT) is a Norwegian association which maintains mountain trails and cabins in Norway. The association was founded on 21 January 1868 with the scope "to help and develop tourism i ...

. As of September 1, 2013 she is CEO of the Norwegian Hospitality Association. She is divorced and has two children. She has a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

Degree in Business from the

Norwegian School of Economics The Norwegian School of Economics ( no, Norges Handelshøyskole) or NHH is a business school situated in Bergen, Norway. It was founded in 1936 as Norway's first business school and is a leading teaching and research institution in the fields of ...

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 ...

, 1985. She minored in sociology at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

in 1986.

Political career

From 2001 to 2005, when the

second cabinet Bondevik Bondevik's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 19 October 2001 and 17 October 2005. It was led by Kjell Magne Bondevik and consisted of the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of ...

held office, Krohn Devold was

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. During this term her seat in parliament was taken by

Hans Gjeisar Kjæstad Hans Gjeisar Kjæstad (born 2 January 1947, in Porsgrunn) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He served as a deputy representative in the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo during the terms 1997–2001, 2001–2005 and 2005& ...

. Krohn Devold was mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of Secretary General of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

after George Robertson, but eventually lost out to

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer ; born 3 April 1948) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Secretary General of NATO from January 2004 to August 2009. De Hoop Scheffer ...

. A November 2005

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 ...

article wrote about her "controversial appointment"Granskes etter Karibia-ferie
/ref> when in the autumn of 2005 she "appointed Karlsvik to chief of fellesstaben i Forsvaret. This was done before the national election—which led to her departure as chief of defence—and it resulted in strong reaction from the two

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

BFO and

Norges Offisersforbund The Norwegian Union of Military Officers ( no, Norges Offisersforbund) is a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge ...

. - The reactions came because the minister of defence sidelined chief of defence

Sverre Diesen General Sverre Diesen (born 18 November 1949 in Oslo) is 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 ...

, and went outside the stipulations of ''hovedavtalen i Forsvaret''. ''Dagbladet'' is aware that Sverre Diesen had a different candidate for this particular job." On the local level Krohn Devold was a member of

city council from 1991 to 1993.

References

External links

Tina KHIDASHELI and Kristin Krohn DEVOLD: Female Defense Ministers from Georgia and Norway discuss NATO, gender, civil society: interview for ''Caucasian Journal'' (2021)

1961 births Living people Members of the Storting Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Female defence ministers Norwegian School of Economics alumni University of Bergen alumni Politicians from Ålesund Women members of the Storting Norwegian city councillors 20th-century Norwegian women politicians 21st-century Norwegian politicians 21st-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians Women government ministers of Norway Defence ministers of Norway Women local politicians {{Norway-politician-1960s-stub