Torild Skard
Encyclopedia
Torild Skard is a Norwegian psychologist and researcher, feminist, politician for the Socialist Left Party
, civil servant and former high-ranking United Nations
official (UNESCO
, UNICEF). She served as a Member of Parliament, President of its upper chamber and Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Justice
from 1973 to 1977. She served as Director for Questions relating to the Status of Women of UNESCO
1984–1986 and Regional Director for West
and Central Africa
at UNICEF 1994–1998. She was Chairman of the UNICEF Executive Board 1988-1989. Since 2006, she has been President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights.
as a daughter of Sigmund Skard
(1903–1995) and Åse Gruda Skard
(1905–1985). She is a sister of Halvdan Skard
and twin sister of Målfrid Grude Flekkøy
. Through her mother, she is a granddaughter of Halvdan Koht
and Karen Grude Koht
, and through her father she is a granddaughter Matias Skard
, and niece of Torfinn
, Bjarne
, Eiliv
and Olav Skard
. She is also a niece of Paul Koht
.
From 1962 to 1965 Skard was married to historian, theologian and politician Berge Furre
(born 1937). In 1977 she became a cohabitant with politician Kåre Øystein Hansen (born 1927), and they married in 1994.
and Stabekk
, before finishing her secondary education at Hegdehaugen in 1954. After studies at the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne
and Sagene Teacher's College
she graduated with the cand.mag.
degree in sociology from the University of Oslo
in 1962. She also chaired the Students' Council, from 1961 to 1962. In 1965 she took the cand.paed. degree. She was a lecturer at Statens spesiallærerhøgskole from 1965 to 1972 and lecturer at the University of Tromsø
from 1972 to 1978. She was also subeditor of the journal Norsk Pedagogisk Tidskrift from 1966 to 1972, and from 1968 to 1969 she researched for the Norwegian Institute for Social Research
. In 1975 she became an approved psychologist. From 1978 to 1984 she was a researcher at the Work Research Institute.
However, her career as a researcher was interrupted by her political career. She was originally a member of the Labour Party
, but as leader of Sosialistisk Studentlag she was excluded in 1959, and co-founded the Socialist People's Party
in 1961. She was a secretary for the party from 1962 to 1963, and served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway during the term 1965–1969. From 1972 to 1972 she was a member of Oslo
city council, and from 1973 to 1977 she was a member of Parliament for the constituency Akershus
. During this term she served as President of the Lagting and deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Justice
. She was delegate for Norway to the UN General Assembly (1974) and delegate for Norway to the World Conference for the International Women's Year
(1975). She was the first female President of the Lagting.
From 1984 to 1986 she was Director for Questions relating to the Status of Women of UNESCO
. She was then deputy under-secretary of state of the Norwegian Ministry of Development Cooperation from 1986 to 1989. Then, that Ministry was merged into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
, and Skard retained her position as deputy under-secretary of state there. She was the first deputy under-secretary of state in both these Ministries. In 1991 she was promoted to assisting permanent under-secretary of state for development cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position she held until 1994. From 1994 to 1998 she was Regional Director for West
and Central Africa
at UNICEF. She had been chairperson of UNICEF from 1988 to 1989. She was special adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2003, and is currently senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Since 2006, she has been president of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. She has also been a deputy member of the Arts Council Norway (1965–1968), board member of the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo
(1962–1966), board member of Folkebevegelsen mot EF (1970–1973), local leader in the Norwegian Civil Service Union (1981–1982) and deputy chair of FOKUS, Forum for Women and Development (2003–present).
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
, civil servant and former high-ranking United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
official (UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, UNICEF). She served as a Member of Parliament, President of its upper chamber and Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Justice
Standing Committee on Justice
The Standing Committee on Justice is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to judicial system, the probation service, the police, persons performing civilian national service, other judicial issues, ex gratia payments, general legislation...
from 1973 to 1977. She served as Director for Questions relating to the Status of Women of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
1984–1986 and Regional Director for West
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and Central Africa
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
at UNICEF 1994–1998. She was Chairman of the UNICEF Executive Board 1988-1989. Since 2006, she has been President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights.
Personal life
She was born in OsloOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
as a daughter of Sigmund Skard
Sigmund Skard
Sigmund Skard was a Norwegian poet, essayist and professor of literature.He was born in Kristiansand as a son of educators Matias Skard and Gyda Christensen . He was a nephew of Johannes Skar and Christopher Bruun, a brother of Bjarne and Eiliv Skard and a half-brother of Olav and Torfinn...
(1903–1995) and Åse Gruda Skard
Åse Gruda Skard
Åse Gruda Skard was a Norwegian psychologist, and a pioneer in the field of the bringing up of children. She lectured at the University of Oslo from 1947 to 1973. She edited the magazine Norsk Pedagogisk Tidsskrift from 1936 to 1970. She wrote 24 books and almost 2,000 journal articles...
(1905–1985). She is a sister of Halvdan Skard
Halvdan Skard
Halvdan Skard is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.He was born in Oslo as a son of Åse Gruda Skard and Sigmund Skard, and through Åse the grandson of Halvdan Koht and Karen Grude Koht. He has two sisters Torild Skard and Målfrid Grude Flekkøy, who are twins, and himself has a twin...
and twin sister of Målfrid Grude Flekkøy
Målfrid Grude Flekkøy
-Personal life:She was born in Oslo as a daughter of Sigmund Skard and Åse Gruda Skard . She is a sister of Halvdan Skard and twin sister of Torild Skard. Through her mother, she is a granddaughter of Halvdan Koht and Karen Grude Koht, and through her father she is a granddaughter Matias Skard and...
. Through her mother, she is a granddaughter of Halvdan Koht
Halvdan Koht
Halvdan Koht was a Norwegian historian and politician representing the Labour Party.As a politician he served as the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1935 to 1941. He was never elected as a member of the Parliament of Norway, but was a member of Bærum municipal council in 1917–1919 and...
and Karen Grude Koht
Karen Grude Koht
Karen Grude Koht was a Norwegian pedagogist, essayist and feminist pioneer. She was born in Høyland and started her working career as a teacher in Sandnes. She was married to historian Halvdan Koht, and mother of Åse Gruda Skard and Paul Koht. Among her works are Mi fyrste bok from 1921 and Barna...
, and through her father she is a granddaughter Matias Skard
Matias Skard
Matias Skard was a Norwegian philologist, educator, psalmist, essayist and translator, a brother of folklorist Johannes Skar....
, and niece of Torfinn
Torfinn Skard
-Personal life:He was born in Faaberg as a son of educator Matias Skard and his second wife Nilsine Kristiane Myhre . He was a nephew of Johannes Skar, Christopher Bruun and Per Bø and a half-brother of Olav Skard and Bjarne, Eiliv and Sigmund Skard...
, Bjarne
Bjarne Skard
-Personal life:He was born in Levanger as a son of educators Matias Skard and Gyda Christensen . The family moved to Kristiansand in 1901. He was a nephew of Johannes Skar and Christopher Bruun, a brother of Eiliv and Sigmund Skard and a half-brother of Olav and Torfinn Skard...
, Eiliv
Eiliv Skard
Eiliv Skard was a Norwegian classical philologist.-Personal life:He was born in Levanger as a son of educators Matias Skard and Gyda Christensen . The family moved to Kristiansand in 1901...
and Olav Skard
Olav Skard
-Personal life:He was born in Østre Gausdal as a son of educators Matias Skard and his first wife Marie Bø . He was a nephew of Johannes Skar and Per Bø and a half-brother of Torfinn, Bjarne, Eiliv and Sigmund Skard...
. She is also a niece of Paul Koht
Paul Koht
-Personal life:He was born in Bærum as a son of Halvdan Koht and Karen Grude Koht 1871–1960. He was a brother of Åse Gruda Skard. He was a grandson of Paul Steenstrup Koht and Martin Adolf Grude, and through his sister he was a brother-in-law of Sigmund Skard and uncle of Halvdan Skard, Målfrid...
.
From 1962 to 1965 Skard was married to historian, theologian and politician Berge Furre
Berge Furre
Berge Ragnar Furre is a Norwegian historian, theologian and politician for the Socialist Left Party.-Early life and career:...
(born 1937). In 1977 she became a cohabitant with politician Kåre Øystein Hansen (born 1927), and they married in 1994.
Career
She had her first schooling in Washington DC from 1942 to 1945, since her family was exiled because of the German occupation of Norway. After the war she completed her primary and lower secondary education at LysakerLysaker
Lysaker is a section of and a postal code area of the Norwegian municipality of Bærum, just west of Oslo.Geographically, it is bordered by Lysakerelven on the east, which also forms the border to Oslo; Fornebu to the south; Stabekk to the west; and Jar to the north...
and Stabekk
Stabekk
Stabekk is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Norway. Mainly a residential area and have most of the conservative population in Norway the current population is 6,261....
, before finishing her secondary education at Hegdehaugen in 1954. After studies at the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne
Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne
The Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne depends on the Société des Amis des Universités de Paris , a public utility and non-profit association of private status regulated by the French law of 1901 on associations...
and Sagene Teacher's College
Oslo University College
Oslo University College , Norwegian: Høgskolen i Oslo is the largest state university college in Norway, with more than 11,000 students and approx. 1100 employees...
she graduated with the cand.mag.
Cand.mag.
Candidatus magisterii , Candidata magisterii , i.e. Latin Candidate of Arts, abbreviated cand.mag., is an academic degree used in Denmark, and formerly in Norway and Iceland, roughly corresponding to an American Master of Arts and officially translated as such...
degree in sociology from the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
in 1962. She also chaired the Students' Council, from 1961 to 1962. In 1965 she took the cand.paed. degree. She was a lecturer at Statens spesiallærerhøgskole from 1965 to 1972 and lecturer at the University of Tromsø
University of Tromsø
The University of Tromsø is the world's northernmost university. Located in the city of Tromsø, Norway, it was established in 1968, and opened in 1972. It is one of eight universities in Norway. The University of Tromsø is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway...
from 1972 to 1978. She was also subeditor of the journal Norsk Pedagogisk Tidskrift from 1966 to 1972, and from 1968 to 1969 she researched for the Norwegian Institute for Social Research
Norwegian Institute for Social Research
The Norwegian Institute for Social Research is a social science research institute based in Oslo, Norway.It was founded in 1950 by Vilhelm Aubert, Arne Næss, Eirik Rinde, and Stein Rokkan. It cooperates closely with the University of Oslo and the Research Council of Norway, but is a contract-based...
. In 1975 she became an approved psychologist. From 1978 to 1984 she was a researcher at the Work Research Institute.
However, her career as a researcher was interrupted by her political career. She was originally a member of the Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
, but as leader of Sosialistisk Studentlag she was excluded in 1959, and co-founded the Socialist People's Party
Socialist People's Party (Norway)
Socialist People's Party was a splinter group of the Norwegian Labour Party . SF was principally dissatisfied with the pro-NATO/European Economic Community external policies of DNA. A group centered around the magazine Orientering had been expelled from DNA...
in 1961. She was a secretary for the party from 1962 to 1963, and served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway during the term 1965–1969. From 1972 to 1972 she was a member of Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
city council, and from 1973 to 1977 she was a member of Parliament for the constituency Akershus
Akershus
- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...
. During this term she served as President of the Lagting and deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Justice
Standing Committee on Justice
The Standing Committee on Justice is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to judicial system, the probation service, the police, persons performing civilian national service, other judicial issues, ex gratia payments, general legislation...
. She was delegate for Norway to the UN General Assembly (1974) and delegate for Norway to the World Conference for the International Women's Year
International Women's Year
International Women's Year was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976–1985, was also established.-International:...
(1975). She was the first female President of the Lagting.
From 1984 to 1986 she was Director for Questions relating to the Status of Women of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. She was then deputy under-secretary of state of the Norwegian Ministry of Development Cooperation from 1986 to 1989. Then, that Ministry was merged into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway...
, and Skard retained her position as deputy under-secretary of state there. She was the first deputy under-secretary of state in both these Ministries. In 1991 she was promoted to assisting permanent under-secretary of state for development cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position she held until 1994. From 1994 to 1998 she was Regional Director for West
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and Central Africa
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
at UNICEF. She had been chairperson of UNICEF from 1988 to 1989. She was special adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2003, and is currently senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Since 2006, she has been president of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. She has also been a deputy member of the Arts Council Norway (1965–1968), board member of the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo
Foundation for Student Life in Oslo
The Foundation for Student Life in Oslo is the student welfare organisation in Oslo, Norway.It was established in 1939 as the first of its kind in Norway...
(1962–1966), board member of Folkebevegelsen mot EF (1970–1973), local leader in the Norwegian Civil Service Union (1981–1982) and deputy chair of FOKUS, Forum for Women and Development (2003–present).
Select bibliography
- Ny radikalisme i Norge (1967)
- Hva skjer med grunnskolen? (1971)
- Verksted for selvtillit (1973)
- Det er Oslo som ligger avsides (1974)
- «Kvinnekupp» i kommunene (ed.) (1979)
- Utvalgt til Stortinget (1980)
- Hverdag på Løvebakken (1981)
- Continent of Mothers, Continent of Hope: Understanding and Promoting Development in Africa Today (Zed Books, 2003), also published in Norwegian, German, French and Dutch editions
- Når kvinner når toppen: Verdens kvinnelige presidenter og statsministre i 50 år, fra 1960 til 2010 (Universitetsforlaget, 2011)