Astrid Gjertsen (14 September 192817 June 2020) was a Norwegian-Danish politician who served as a member of the Norwegian Parliament as a member of the Conservative Party from 1969 to 1989. From 1981 to 1986, she served as the Minister of Consumer Affairs and Administration. In 2013, Gjertsen was named as the ninth most important woman in Norwegian history by ''

Verdens Gang (), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...

''.

Early life

Astrid Gjertsen was born on 14 September 1928, in

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, to Senius Spaabæk and Helga Mogensen. She graduated from high school in Horsens in 1946. In 1945, she worked for the Youth Red Cross where she met John Herbert Gjertsen, a Norwegian who had been a prisoner of war in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

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 ...

since 1942 for his involvement in a resistance movement. On 21 September 1946, she married Gjertsen. During her marriage, she lived in Oslo, Norway, and later in Borøya, Aust-Agder, Norway.

Career

Local politics

In 1967, Gjertsen was elected to the

Tvedestrand is List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative center is the Tvedestrand (town), t ...

municipal council and served until 1975. From 1972 to 1975, she served as the leader of the Conservatives in Tvedestrand.

Parliament

In 1969, she was elected as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Aust-Agder, and later as a parliamentary representative in 1973, as a member of the Conservative Party. From 1978 to 1982, she served as the 2nd Deputy Chairman of the Right. In 1974, she served as a deputy representative to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

. In 1978, she served as a member of the parliamentary delegation to the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

. On 14 October 1981, she became the Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumers and Administration. She was one of four women in Kåre Willoch's cabinet. During her tenure, the telephone monopoly was disbanded; she supported deregulation, and supported allowing for longer shopping hours and Sunday shopping. On 18 April 1986, she resigned from her ministry position and was convicted for turning in

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

32,061 worth of fraudulent taxi receipts. She was given a 45-day

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

and paid the money back; the punishment was higher than usual due to her political position. Gjertsen stopped being a deputy representative in 1989.

Later life

In a 2013 ranking compiled by the political editors of ''

'', Gjertsen was rated the ninth most important woman in Norwegian history. On 17 June 2020, she died in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

, Norway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjertsen, Astrid 1928 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Danish emigrants to Norway Government ministers of Norway Women government ministers of Norway Women members of the Storting Members of the Storting 1985–1989 Members of the Storting 1981–1985 Members of the Storting 1977–1981 Members of the Storting 1973–1977