Snorre Serigstad Valen (born 16 September 1984 in

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 ...

) is a Norwegian journalist, musician and former politician from the Socialist Left Party. He served as an MP in the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

from

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag (; ) was a Counties of Norway, county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag () county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. ...

from

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, and deputy leader of the party from November 2015 to 2019. Valen previously worked as a communications assistant at NTNU Social Research. In 2020, he became head of the politics section of the newspaper ''Nidaros'' in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, Norway.

Early life and education

Valen was born on 16 September 1984, the son of Knut Serigstad, a civil engineer, and Kristin Valen, a social worker. Valen attended Berg elementary school from 1991 to 1997 and Blussovoll lower secondary from 1997 to 2000. He then went to dance and drama at

Trondheim Cathedral School Trondheim Cathedral School (, Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is an upper secondary school located next to the Nidaros Cathedral in the center of Trondheim, Norway. History There is great dispute regarding the actual founding date of ...

from 2000 to 2003. He then went to NTNU from 2003 to 2004, and studied state science, international and imperative politics and got a ex.phil in political risk.

Career

From 2007 to 2008 Valen was the head of the short-lived newspaper ''Arbeideravisa'' in

. Valen sat in the Sør-Trøndelag County Council and in Trondheim City Council from 2003 to 2007, and during this period, led the foreign affairs and welfare committees in the county council. After being elected to the Norwegian parliament in 2009, he served as member of the

Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment The Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to petroleum, energy, hydroelectricity, environmental protection and regional planning Regional p ...

from 2009 to March 2012. He was the second deputy chair of the

Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating foreign affairs, military, development cooperation, Svalbard or in other polar regions and matters ...

from April 2012 to September 2013. In February 2011, Valen nominated the website

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

. In 2013, he nominated

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage ...

and

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...

for the 2014 Nobel peace prize, stating that Manning's leaks helped end the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

while Snowden had exposed how the war on terror had led to

mass surveillance Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens. The surveillance is often carried out by Local government, local and federal governments or intell ...

of ordinary people. As an

anti-monarchist Criticism of monarchy has occurred since ancient times. It can be targeted against the general form of government—monarchy—or more specifically, to particular monarchical governments as controlled by hereditary royal families. In some cases, ...

, Valen consequently refused to attend the yearly royal dinners for parliamentarians. On 20 March 2017, Valen announced that he would not be seeking re-election to Parliament in the September election. On 24 September 2018, Valen announced that he wouldn't be seeking re-election as deputy leader the next year.

Music

Valen is a pianist and singer, has a background in

Nidarosdomens Guttekor The Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir (''Chorus Puerorum Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is a Norwegian choir in Trondheim, consisting of 76 boys and men as of spring 2008. It represents a tradition of boy and men cathedral choristers in Nidaros Cathedr ...

and has studied music at

Trondheim katedralskole Trondheim Cathedral School (, Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Nidrosiensis'') is an upper secondary school located next to the Nidaros Cathedral in the center of Trondheim, Norway. History There is great dispute regarding the actual founding date of ...

. From 2004–2008 he played in the band ''

Gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: * Gallery (surname), a surname Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery ** Online art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ' ...

'', and released one record with the group. Later on he became a member of the

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

group Amish 82 and the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

band Peevish Penfriend. In 2010, he composed the melodies heard at each stop on the then-new

Bergen Light Rail Bergen Light Rail () is a light rail system in Bergen, Norway. The first stage of the project was a twenty-station stretch between the city center and Lagunen Storsenter, Nesttun, where the first 15 stations comprising a stretch opened in 2010, ...

network.

References

External links

Snorre Valen's blog

Amish 82

Peevish Penfriend
1984 births Living people Socialist Left Party (Norway) politicians Journalists from Oslo People educated at the Trondheim Cathedral School Politicians from Trondheim Members of the Storting 2009–2013 Members of the Storting 2013–2017 {{norway-politician-1980s-stub