Norman Kirk
Norman Eric Kirk (born January 6, 1923 in Waimate , New Zealand , † August 31, 1974 in Wellington ) was a New Zealand Labor Party politician and Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his death .
Life
Kirk was born on January 6th into a working class family. Shortly before his thirteenth birthday, he left school but continued to attend libraries and was primarily interested in history and geography. He worked in various professions, including as a painter and on the railway. Due to his poor health, he was not drafted during World War II .
In 1943 he joined the Labor Party, in 1953 he became mayor of Kaiapoi . After an unsuccessful attempt in 1954 for the constituency of Hurunui to move into parliament, he successfully entered the constituency of Lyttelton in 1957 .
During his political career, Kirk spoke out in favor of the welfare state , which earned him great popular sympathy. He rose in his party, became vice chairman in 1963 and the top candidate for the 1966 election in 1965.
Kirk remained opposition leader until he replaced Jack Marshall as Prime Minister in 1972 . He particularly campaigned for better contacts between his country and Africa and Asia and spoke out against French nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific. Due to the apartheid regime, unlike Robert Muldoon , he refused a South African rugby team a tour of New Zealand. New Zealand Day was introduced during his tenure .
Due to his heavy workload, his health deteriorated more and more. He was admitted to hospital in August 1974, where he died three days later. He had been married to Lucy Ruth Miller since 1943 and had three sons and two daughters.
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Alfred Hindmarsh (1916–1918) • Harry Holland (1919–1933) • Michael Joseph Savage (1933–1940) • Peter Fraser (1940–1950) • Walter Nash (1951–1963) • Arnold Nordmeyer (1963–1965) • Norman Kirk (1965–1974) • Bill Rowling (1974–1983) • David Lange (1983–1989) • Geoffrey Palmer (1989–1990) • Mike Moore (1990–1993) • Helen Clark (1993–2008) • Phil Goff ( 2008–2011) • David Shearer (2011–2013) • David Cunliffe (2013–2014) • Andrew Little (2014–2017) • Jacinda Ardern (since 2017)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kirk, Norman |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kirk, Norman Eric (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | New Zealand politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1972–1974) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 6, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Waimate , New Zealand |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 31, 1974 |
| Place of death | Wellington |