Einfrid Daghild Halvorsen (born 13 October 1937) is a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. She was mayor of

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

from 1983 to 1986, a State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Labour from 1986 to 1987 and Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs from 1988 to 1989. After quitting politics, she worked as secretary-general of Mental Helse from 1991 to 2005.

Career

She was born in

as a daughter of Einar O. Gunnestad (1910–1951) and Dagmar Stålhave (1902–1974). She started out as a trade unionist, chairing the Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices locally in Skien from 1971 to 1974. She was then a national board member from 1976, and central board member from 1980 to 1984. As a politician, she was a deputy member of Skien school board before serving on the city council (executive committee) from 1971 to 1979. She was elected as a deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) 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 based on party-list proportional represe ...

from the constituency Telemark for two terms, 1977–1981 and 1981–1985. She had a brief tenure as regular representative in October 1981, covering for

Finn Kristensen Finn Kristensen (born 24 July, 1936) is a Norwegian electrician, trade unionist, and politician affiliated with the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Industry in 1981, from 1986 to1988, and from 1992 to 1993. Additionally, he was the Min ...

who was a member of the outgoing

Brundtland's First Cabinet Brundtland's First Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Cabinet Nordli, and sat between 4 February and 14 October 1981. The cabinet was the first in Norwegian history to be led by a woman. It was replaced ...

. In total Halvorsen met during 97 days of parliamentary session. After the 1983 Norwegian local elections, from 1983 to 1986 Halvorsen served as mayor of Skien. Her term ended in May 1986, when

Brundtland's Second Cabinet Brundtland's Second Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Conservative Willoch's Second Cabinet, and sat between 9 May 1986 and 16 October 1989. It was replaced by the Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat cabin ...

assumed office and Halvorsen was appointed as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Labour. She remained such until July 1987. From June 1988 she served as the Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs. She had to resign in April 1989, following an embezzlement case in her near family. She was then a central board member of the Labour Party until 1990. Halvorsen was also a board member of National Insurance Scheme Fund and Norwegian Directorate of Labour during the 1980s. In the 2000s she was a board member of the

Southern Norway Regional Health Authority Southern Norway Regional Health Authority () was a regional health authority that covered the counties of Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Telemark, Vest-Agder and Vestfold in Norway, as well as the national hospitals in Oslo. The authority was founded on ...

, until the Minister of Health

Dagfinn Høybråten Dagfinn Høybråten (born 2 December 1957) is a Norwegian politician. He was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party 2004–2011. He was also Parliamentary leader from 2005 when he was elected as Member of Parliament representing Rogaland. ...

dissolved the board in January 2004 following disagreements between chief executive Steinar Stokke and two fractions of the board. After her political career, however, she is best known as secretary-general of the pro-mental health organization Mental Helse from 1991 to 2005. She was credited for building up Mental Helse from almost nothing to a large and viable organization. She was awarded the award Folkeopplysningsprisen in 2004. During her time as secretary-general, Halvorsen also chaired the

Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People 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 *Norwegian language, including the two ...

during the 1990s. From 1995 to 2003 Halvorsen also served a fourth and fifth term in Skien city council. Locally she is also a board member of

Skien Airport, Geiteryggen Skien Airport, Geiteryggen (; ) is a regional airport located at Geiteryggen, southwest of the city center of Skien, Norway. Owned by Skien Municipality, it was last served by Widerøe with daily flights to Bergen. The runway is and numbered 01 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorsen, Einfrid 1937 births Living people Politicians from Skien Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Telemark Norwegian state secretaries Members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway