Ivan Kolbjørn Kristoffersen (21 January 1931 – 26 February 2016) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was born in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the 21s ...

, as a son of Henry Kristian Kristoffersen (1896–1981) and Klara Henriette Olufsen (1897–1984). He finished his secondary education in 1951 and graduated from the

Norwegian Journalist Academy 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 th ...

in 1954. In the same year he became an apprentice of hometown newspaper ''

Nordlys ''Nordlys'' is a Norwegian newspaper published in Tromsø, covering the region of Troms, and the largest newspaper in Northern Norway. History and profile ''Nordlys'' was founded in 1902 by Alfred Eriksen, who also was its first editor-in-ch ...

''. He was promoted to subeditor in 1964, feature editor in 1974 and political editor in 1976. His only absence from ''Nordlys'' came in 1972 when he was press secretary for the Norwegian UN delegation, and from 1979 to 1981 when he was a State Secretary for the Labour Party in the Ministry of Fisheries. From 1982 to his retirement in 1997 he was the editor-in-chief. He was known for supporting Norwegian European Communities membership in 1972, but opposing Norwegian European Union membership in 1994. After retiring he has been adjunct docent at

Bodø University College The University of Nordland, (Abbreviation: UIN; no, Universitetet i Nordland) previously Bodø University College, was a public university located in Bodø, Norway. In January 2016, the university was merged with Nesna University College and Nor ...

and an adviser at the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway ( Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway a ...

. From 1998 to 2001 he chaired the Broadcasting Council. He was decorated with the HM The King's Medal of Merit in 1997 and the Fritt Ord Honorary Award in 2000. Kristoffersen was married to nurse Anne Johanne Lorentzen from 1958 to 1993. He was then a cohabitant with

Oddny Aleksandersen Oddny Ballo Aleksandersen (born 5 February 1942), is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. Born in Vadsø, she chaired the local party chapter in Vadsø from 1979 to 1982 and was a member of the executive committee of Vadsø municipal c ...

from 1993 to 1995.

References

1931 births 2016 deaths Writers from Tromsø Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian state secretaries Labour Party (Norway) politicians Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit {{Norway-writer-stub