Turid Birkeland (5 November 1962 – 24 December 2015) was a Norwegian cultural executive and politician for the Labour Party. She was Minister of Culture in 1996–97. She was an author and also worked in television, including being chief of cultural programming at

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

and a member of the board at

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwi ...

. She also headed the

Risør is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Ri ...

Chamber Music Festival, and was the director of Concerts Norway.

Early life and education

Birkeland was born in

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

as a daughter of trade unionist Einar Sigurd Birkeland and consultant Tora Birkeland on 5 November 1962. Her father was secretary in the

Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers The Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers (, NJMF) was a trade union representing workers in the metal industry, workshops, and shipbuilding in Norway. The union was founded in 1891, and in 1905 it joined the Norwegian Confederation of Trade ...

in the 1970s, and later became international secretary in the

United Federation of Trade Unions The United Federation of Trade Unions () is a general union in Norway. With a membership of 174,985 it is the largest private sector union in the country. History The union is affiliated with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). T ...

and rector of Sørmarka Folk High School. Turid Birkeland received her secondary education at Bjerke Upper Secondary School 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 ...

, graduating in 1981. She attended college from 1982 to 1983,Birkeland, Turid (1962- ): Arbeiderpartiet

Stortinget 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 ...

and held an ex.phil.

Career

She led her party's youth organization, the Workers' Youth League, in Oslo from 1985 to 1986 and nationwide from 1989 to 1992. Birkeland has said that she was unaware of inflated membership numbers in the Workers' Youth League that came to light after her tenure. 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 ...

in the 1985 election, but served as a regular representative through most of the term from 1986 to 1989, as a cover for Knut Frydenlund and

Sissel Rønbeck Sissel Marie Rønbeck (born 24 May 1950 in Hammerfest, Finnmark) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. Biography She was Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs 1979–1981, Minister of Environmental Affairs 1986–1989, a ...

who were members of Brundtland's Second Cabinet. She was a member of the Standing Committee on Education and Church Affairs. From 1993 to 1994, she worked for the

Norwegian People's Aid Norwegian People's Aid () was founded in 1939 to provide post-conflict reconstruction assistance and humanitarian relief during conflicts. NPA is now engaged in more than 33 countries in de-mining, Humanitarian aid, humanitarian relief, promotin ...

as well as the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

branch in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In 1994, she was one of the spearheads in the campaign for Norway to join the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

,Turid Birkeland"
''

Store norske leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...

'' which failed following a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on the issue. From 1995 to 1996, she worked brief tenures as a television and radio presenter in

TV+ Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, Reiseradioen and

TVNorge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adv ...

. From October 1996 to October 1997, she served as Minister of Culture, in the Cabinet of

Thorbjørn Jagland Thorbjørn Jagland ( né Johansen; , 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the prime minister of Norway from 1996 to 1997, a ...

, at which time her profession was given as journalist. In April 1997, during her term, she made the first official visit to Cuba by a Norwegian government minister, setting up a cultural exchange agreement. After her spell as Minister of Culture, which ended following the 1997 election, Birkeland returned to Reiseradioen in 1998, and was a presenter in the channel NRK 2 from 1998 to 1999. She was then a producer and manager at Rubicon TV from 1999 to 2001, and director of cultural programming in the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

from 2001 to 2004. She was also a member of the board at

from 2007 to 2012 and the

Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the ...

from 2009. After three years as board member of the Risør Chamber Music Festival from 1997 to 2001, she was its managing director from 2004 to 2010. From June 2006 to April 2007, she also ran ''Café Solsiden'' in the same town. She also had a brief tenure in the publishing house Piratforlaget between 2005 and 2006. On 16 April 2012, Birkeland became director of Concerts Norway, succeeding

Åse Kleveland Åse Maria Kleveland (born 18 March 1949) is a Norwegian singer, guitarist, politician and activist. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 with the entry " Intet er nytt under solen". A well-known folk singer and traditiona ...

, who had also been her predecessor as Minister of Culture. In the same year she became board member of

Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority The South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority () is the largest of the four regional health authority (Norway), regional health authorities in Norway. It covers the counties of Akershus, Agder, Buskerud, Innlandet, Oslo, Telemark, Vestfold an ...

. She was also a supervisory council member in

Oslo Bolig- og Sparelag 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, and ...

Death

In 2011, Birkeland was diagnosed as suffering from

myelofibrosis Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a rare bone marrow blood cancer. It is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, a group of cancers in which there is activation and growth of mutated cells in ...

. She died on 24 December 2015, aged 53, from complications of the illness.

Selected publications

* (ed., with Gunvor Risa). ''Litteratur for barn: artiklar om barns bøker og lesing''. Skriftserie, Landslaget for norskundervisning, 54; Cappelen fakta. Oslo: Cappelen, 1990. * (with Sigurd Sandvin). ''Alle fakta på bordet''. Oslo: Cappelen, 1992. * ''KK: Kvinner kann''. Oslo: Det norske arbeiderparti Arbeidernes opplysningsforbund, 1996. * ''Stockholm''. Damms reisebøker; Din guide til storbyen. Oslo: Damm, 2001 * ''London''. Damms reisebøker; Din guide til storbyen. Oslo: Damm, 2005.

References

External links