Jon Lilletun (23 October 1945 – 21 August 2006) was a Norwegian politician active in the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

Background

Lilletun was born in Western

Vossestrand Vossestrand is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1868 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in the northern part of the present-day munici ...

, now a part of the municipality of

Voss Voss () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages inclu ...

. His father owned a farm and also worked as a mailman. Lilletun was raised as a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

, and his family always tithed to the religious community. After his mandatory 8-year primary education, Lilletun's family was unable to finance attendance at a higher level of school with an academic track. Lilletun worked as an apprentice at a local merchant and attended various trade schools. In 1974, he opened his own retail store that went bankrupt within a few years. He was subsequently convicted of negligence in his accounting practices and sentenced to a 55-day prison term, which he served. He attributed this experience with a new outlook on life, and from 1975 to 1988 he worked for the municipality of

Vennesla Vennesla is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Venn ...

on issues related to youth. In 1982, he ran for election as the mayor of Vennesla, but lost in a landslide defeat. During this time he also moved from the

movement to the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

Political career

Representing the county of

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total popul ...

, he served as a deputy member of the

Norwegian parliament 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 1981 to 1985, and as an elected member from 1989 until his death. In the spring of 2005 he took sick leave, and his deputy

Sigmund Kroslid Sigmund Kroslid (born 11 October 1947) is a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party, best known for being the mayor of Flekkefjord for fourteen years. Career He was born in Flekkefjord as a son of David Kroslid and Mathilde Heskes ...

filled in for him. After his death he was replaced by Dagrun Eriksen. Lilletun was the Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs 1997-2000, in the first cabinet of

Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norway, Norwegian Lutheranism, Lutheran Religious minister, minister and Politics of Norway, politician. As leader of the Christian Democratic Party (Norway), Christian Democratic Party, he ser ...

. Under his administration, the

Norwegian Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities The Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities (, or ''HL-senteret'') is a Norwegian research institution. It is organised as an independent foundation and is an affiliated institute of the University of Oslo. History The cente ...

was approved. Among his other parliamentary appointments were:

Storting Committees

* Since 2001: member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee * 2000-2001: member of the Standing Committee on Business and Industry * 1993-1997: chair of the Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs * 1990-1993: member of the Standing Committee on Church and Education * 1989-1990: member of the Standing Committee on Local Government and the Environment

Other

* Since 2001: member of the Norwegian delegation for Relations with the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

* Since 2000: member of the Norwegian delegation to the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Head of the delegation since 2001 * 1993-1997: alternate member of the Storting delegation to the Nordic Council * 2001-2005: chair of the Christian Democratic Party parliamentary group Since 2005, he was also vice president of the Lagting. The cause of his death was

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

External links

Interview with Lilletun in 1997

Official parliamentary biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilletun, Jon 1945 births 2006 deaths Government ministers of Norway Christian Democratic Party (Norway) politicians Deaths from cancer in Norway Ministers of education of Norway Research ministers of Norway Members of the Storting 2001–2005 Members of the Storting 1993–1997 Members of the Storting 1997–2001 Members of the Storting 2005–2009 Members of the Storting 1989–1993