Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norwegian

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. As leader of 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 ...

, he served as the

prime minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway (, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet of Norway, Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government departme ...

from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him, after

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been the leader of the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Part ...

, Norway's second longest serving non- Labour Party prime minister since World War II. Currently, Bondevik is president of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights.

Family and early life

Bondevik was born in

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

, the son of Johannes Bondevik, a principal at the Christian

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

Rauma folkehøyskole who also was a local politician for the Christian Democratic Party, and Margit, née Hæreid. He became a theological candidate from

MF Norwegian School of Theology MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society (MF for short) is a Norwegian private specialized university. MF focuses on education, research and dissemination of their fields of expertise. The specialized university is located at Majorstu ...

in 1975. As Bondevik was active in Norwegian politics at a young age, he did not serve in the military. In 1979, he was ordained as pastor in the (Lutheran)

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 ...

. He is married to Bjørg Bondevik (née Rasmussen) and has three children: Bjørn (born 1972), Hildegunn (born 1973), and John Harald (born 1976). Kjell Magne Bondevik is the nephew of politician

Kjell Bondevik Kjell Bondevik (11 March 1901 – 21 December 1983) was a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party. He was born in Leikanger. He graduated with the cand.philol. and mag.art. (PhD equivalent) degrees in 1927. He worked as a te ...

, the cousin of former bishop

Odd Bondevik Odd Bondevik (20 June 1941 – 6 September 2014) was a Norwegian theologian who was the Bishop of the Diocese of Møre in the Church of Norway from 17 November 1991 until retirement in 2008. He also served as Preses of the Bishop's Conference of ...

and brother in law of author and priest

Eyvind Skeie Eyvind Skeie (born 5 November 1947) is a Norwegian priest and author.Eyvind Skeie
in

Stjerneklart med Kjell Magne Bondevik

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 ...

. Retrieved 20 July 2013.

Political career

In 2008, Bondevik said that he regards himself as a " 68'er", and that he was "influenced by the radical wind of the time". While he remained in the movement of Young Christian Democrats (Norway, KrFU), he claims to have "radicalized the organization to great despair in the party". He has also said that he would likely rather have "oriented" himself towards the Socialist People's Party, had his radicalization of the Christian Democratic Party not gone through. Representing the Christian Democratic Party, Bondevik was a member of 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 ...

(Parliament) from 1973 to 2005. He was his party's parliamentary leader in the periods of 1981–1983, 1986–1989, 1993–1997, 1997, and 2000–2001, and party leader from 1983 to 1995. In this position, he was succeeded by

Valgerd Svarstad Haugland Valgerd Svarstad Haugland (born 23 August 1956) is a Norwegian teacher, politician and civil servant. She was leader of the Christian Democratic Party in Norway from 1995 to 2004. She was Minister of Children and Family Affairs from 1997 to ...

. He was also

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Jan P. Syse (25 November 1930 – 17 September 1997) was a Norwegian lawyer and politician from the Conservative Party. He was the prime minister of Norway from 1989 to 1990. He also served as the minister of Industry from 1983 to 1985. Syse was the presi ...

's government of 1989–1990, Minister of Church and Education in

Kåre Willoch Kåre Isaachsen Willoch (; 3 October 1928 – 6 December 2021) was a Norwegian politician who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986 and as leader of the Conservative Party from 1970 to 1974. He previously served as the minis ...

's government 1983–1986, also Prime Minister Willoch's deputy 1985–1986, and state secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister during

Lars Korvald (29 April 1916 – 4 July 2006) was a Norwegian politician and educator who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1972 to 1973. He became associated with the Christian Democratic Party and was elected to the Norwegian Parliament. As pri ...

's government 1972–1973.

As Prime Minister

Bondevik's first term as prime minister lasted from 17 October 1997 to 3 March 2000, in a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

consisting of the Christian Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. While serving his first term as prime minister, Bondevik attracted international attention in August 1998 when he announced that he was suffering from

depressive episode A major depressive episode (MDE) is a period characterized by symptoms of major depressive disorder. Those affected primarily exhibit a depressive mood for at least two weeks or more, and a loss of interest or pleasure in everyday activities. Oth ...

, becoming the highest ranking world

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

to admit to suffering from a mental illness while in office. Upon this revelation,

Anne Enger Anne Enger, formerly Anne Enger Lahnstein (born 9 December 1949), is a Norway, Norwegian politician who served as County governor (Norway), County Governor of Østfold from 2004 until 2015, and Leader of the Centre Party (Norway), Centre Party fr ...

became acting prime minister for three weeks, from 30 August to 23 September, while he recovered from the depressive episode. Bondevik then returned to office. Bondevik received thousands of supportive letters, and said that the experience had been positive overall, both for himself and because it made mental illness more publicly acceptable. Bondevik's first cabinet resigned after losing a

confidence vote A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

in March 2000 as a result of a dispute over the construction of gas-fired power stations and was replaced by a Labour Party government led by

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (; born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. Since 2025, he has been the Minister of Finance in the Støre Cabinet. He has previously been the prime minister of Norway and secretary general of NATO. ...

until their defeat in the 2001 parliamentary election. Bondevik then formed his second cabinet, consisting of the

, the Conservative Party and the

, which took office on 19 October 2001. The second Bondevik government carried out reforms and left a booming economy; however, Bondevik was defeated in the 2005 parliamentary election, with 81 seats obtained for Bondevik's coalition and its supporters to the opposition Red-Green Coalition's 88. Bondevik announced his retirement from national-level politics at the end of his term as prime minister, and did not seek re-election for his seat in parliament.

Post-premiership

The Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights was founded by Bondevik in January 2006. The purpose of the centre is to work for world

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and inter-religious tolerance worldwide. The centre cooperates closely with the

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential ele ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, the Kim Dae Jung Library in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and the

Crisis Management Initiative CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation sr (in 2000–2021 ''Crisis Management Initiative ry'') is an independent Finnish non-governmental organisation that works to prevent and resolve conflict through informal dialogue and mediation. Nobel P ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. On 31 October 2006, he published his memoir, called ''Et liv i spenning'' (''A life of excitement and tension''). On 31 January 2017, he was the first high-ranking politician from another country detained and questioned in the United States as a result of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's executive orders banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim nations, because of a diplomatic visit to Iran he had made in 2014. In 2022, it was revealed that Bondevik had published a glowing appraisal of Kazakhstan in the Norwegian daily newspaper '' Vårt Land'' after receiving cash payments from the government of Kazakhstan. Earlier, in 2021, the Norwegian newspaper ''Dagbladet'' had revealed that one of Bondevik's colleagues, the Conservative Party politician Aamir J. Sheikh, had requested a cash payment of 704,000 NOK from the government of Bahrain in an e-mail, with Bondevik as one of the carbon-copied (CC) recipients. "A month later, Bondevik and Sheikh handed out an 'honorary prize' to representatives of Bahrain's prime minister," the newspaper wrote.

Awards and decorations

Bondevik was awarded the Grand Cross of St. Olav in 2004, the first sitting Norwegian Prime Minister to receive the Order of St. Olav in 80 years. The award happened due to a change in the Statutes of the Order with automatic awards to the prime minister and Ministers of the Government that stirred some debate and criticism. With the succeeding Stoltenberg Government, the practice was halted. He is a full member of the

Club de Madrid Club de Madrid is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. It is composed of 127 regular members from 74 countries, including 5 Nobel Peace Prize laureates and 2 ...

, a group of former leaders of democratic states that works to strengthen democratic governance and leadership. Bondevik is an Honorary Member of The

International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) is a non-governmental organization which researches Holocaust rescuers and advocates for their recognition. The organization developed educational programs for school to promote peace and civil s ...

. In 2009, Bondevik was awarded an honorary degree from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

References

External links