Aaslaug Aasland (11 August 1890 – 30 August 1962) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She served as Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs from 1948 to 1953. She was born in

Sandnes Sandnes () is a city and municipality in Rogaland, Norway. It lies immediately south of Stavanger, the 4th largest municipality in Norway, and together the Stavanger/Sandnes area is the third-largest urban area in Norway. The urban city of Sand ...

as a daughter of Hans Aasland (1855–1901) and Hanna Marie Nielsen (1857–1957). She took the

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1916, enrolled at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

and graduated with the

cand.jur. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1922. She worked for the district stipendiary magistrate in

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of US mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Association, ...

for a short time, and then worked for the

Norwegian National Women's Council The Norwegian National Women's Council () was founded on 8 January 1904 as an umbrella organization for the various Norwegian women's associations. It was established by Gina Krog whose international contacts had revealed that the International Co ...

from 1924 to 1931, as a prison inspector from 1931 to 1936 and labour inspector from 1936 to 1945. In 1945 she briefly served as the director of Bredtveit women's prison, which had been a concentration camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 ...

. Later in 1945, when

Gerhardsen's Second Cabinet Gerhardsen's Second Cabinet governed Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelag ...

assumed office, Aasland became a consultative minister in the Ministry of Social Affairs. She held this post until 1948, when she succeeded

Sven Oftedal Sven Oftedal (March 22, 1844 – March 30, 1911) was a Norwegian American Lutheran minister. He served as the 3rd president of Augsburg University and helped found the Lutheran Free Church. Background Sven Svensen Oftedal was born in Stavanger, ...

as Minister of Social Affairs. She was the first female head of a

government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level Executive (government), executive bodies in the Machinery of government, machinery of governments that manage a specific se ...

(

Kirsten Hansteen Kirsten Hansteen (5 January 1903 – 17 November 1974) was a Norway, Norwegian editor and librarian. She was appointed Minister of Social Affairs with Gerhardsen's First Cabinet in 1945 and was the first female member of cabinet in Norway. Biog ...

had preceded Aasland as minister in 1945, but as consultative minister), and also the first female government minister belonging to the Labour Party. She was also a member of

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

city council from 1945 to 1947. Assessments of Aasland's accomplishments in the position have been mixed. According to historian and political scientist

Trond Nordby Trond Nordby (born 6 July 1943) is a Norwegian historian and political scientist. He graduated candidatus philologiæ in 1972, and received his PhD in 1984. He worked as a research fellow and lecturer of history at the University of Oslo from 19 ...

she was a particularly weak government minister, as she was "not able to carry through anything" (this claim was built on interviews with Aasland's successors

Rakel Seweriin Rakel Seweriin, née Solberg (26 June 1906 – 17 September 1995) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She was the Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs from 1953 to 1955. She was born in Hof as a daughter of Casper Fredrik Solberg ...

and

Gudmund Harlem Gudmund Harlem (24 July 1917 – 22 March 1988) was a Norwegian physician and politician for the Labour Party. He was the Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs from 1955 to 1961 and Norwegian Minister of Defence from 1961 to 1965 (except for a ...

). She also served briefly as acting prime minister in 1953. With this she became the first woman to be acting prime minister in Norwegian history. After stepping down as government minister, Aasland worked as an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs. She was also a board member of the

Norwegian People's Aid Norwegian People's Aid () was founded in 1939 to provide post-conflict reconstruction assistance and humanitarian relief during conflicts. NPA is now engaged in more than 33 countries in de-mining, Humanitarian aid, humanitarian relief, promotin ...

. She died in August 1962 in Oslo.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aasland, Aaslaug 1890 births 1962 deaths Labour Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Social affairs ministers of Norway Norwegian civil servants University of Oslo alumni People from Sandnes Women government ministers of Norway 20th-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people