Aase Bjerkholt

Aase Bjerkholt (1963)

Aase Ingerid Nathalie Bjerkholt (birth name: Aase Ingrid Nathalie Hankø ; born January 16, 1915 in Kristiania ; † August 17, 2012 ) was a Norwegian politician of the Arbeiderpartiet , who was in the government of Gerhardsen III and from 1956 to 1963 and 1963 to 1965 of the Gerhardsen IV government was first minister for families and consumers. She was a pioneer of gender equality in the Norwegian labor movement and for several years she was vice-chairman and chairwoman of the women's secretariat of the Labor Party.

Life

Office worker, youth functionary and local politician

Aase Hankø, daughter of fitter Nils Ingvald Olsen Hankø and seamstress Inga Alvilde Thorvaldsen, grew up first in Kristiania and later with her father's parents in Onsøy . After attending elementary and middle school, she applied for an apprenticeship at the coastal shipping school in 1930, but was turned down as a woman. Instead, she began training at the commercial school (Treider Fagskoler) founded by Otto Treider in Kristiania, where she attended various courses in trade and social affairs. She then worked as an office worker in Oslo and later in Fredrikstad before joining a trade union . In 1938 she became an office worker and then a manager in the trade and office workers union NHKF (Norges Handels og Kontorfunksjonærers Forbund) , of which she was an active member. On August 2, 1939, she married the lawyer Magnus Bjerkholt, with whom she had four children.

After the end of the Second World War , Aase Bjerkholt began her political work in the youth organization of the workers' party AUF ( Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking ) and was chairman of the AUF in Oslo and Akershus between 1945 and 1947 . At the same time she was a member of the Oslo City Council from 1945 to 1947 and was active as chairwoman of the capital's consumer committee and as an active member of the working committee of the consumer council. In 1951 she became a member of the Oslo Administrative Board, to which she was a member until 1955.

Minister and Chairwoman of the Women's Association

In 1953 Aase Bjerkholt became vice-chairwoman of the women's movement of the Workers' Party and at the same time executive chairwoman of the party's women's secretariat. On August 1, 1955, Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen appointed her as Assistant Minister for Family and Consumer Affairs (Konsultativ statsråd for familie- og forbrukersaker) and took over the newly created office of Minister for Families and Consumers on December 21, 1956 just under a year later the third Gerhardsen government . She was a member of this until the end of Gerhardsen's tenure on August 28, 1963. After the National Women’s Conference in 1955, in which she participated as a member of the Royal Council, there was the introduction of public care for children who received no or insufficient care from their parents. Furthermore, based on their suggestion, the government introduced disability benefits. In addition, her proposal increased the benefits for home care and housewives.

After the end of the bourgeois minority government of Prime Minister John Lyng , Aase Bjerkholt took over the post of Minister for Families and Consumers again in the fourth Gerhardsen government from September 25, 1963 until the end of Gerhardsen's term of office on October 12, 1965.

At the same time, Aase Bjerkholt succeeded Rakel Seweriin as chairwoman of the women's secretariat of the Workers' Party (Det norske Arbeiderpartis kvinnesekretariat) in 1963 and remained in this position until 1967. She campaigned for social relationships between women, school reforms and industrial development and was instrumental in advocating equal opportunities for girls and boys in school in order to create a basis for further equality. In the course of industrial development called for the creation of more jobs for women, especially in rural areas.

After leaving the government, Aase Bjerkholt was involved from 1966 to 1969 as a board member of the student union of the AOF (Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund) and was its secretary for two years. From 1967 to 1986 she was a member of the State Grain Council (Statens Kornråd) . She was also a board member of Det norske radiumhospital from 1971 to 1982 and a board member of Den Norske Opera from 1975 to 1983 . In addition, she was active from 1971 to 1978 as chairman and between 1978 and 1984 as vice-chairman of the Open Air Council of the Oslofjord , of which she became an honorary member in 1984. She also served as Chair of the Immigration Council between 1976 and 1981.

In 1999 Aase Bjerkholt became an honorary member of the labor party.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Storting
• Short biography in the store norske leksikon
• Biography in the Norsk biografisk leksikon