Hanna Kvanmo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hanna Kristine Kvanmo (born June 14, 1926 in Sandtorg, outside the town of Harstad in Norway, died June 23, 2005) was a Norwegian politician from the party SV. At the height of her political career she was considered one of the most beloved politicians in Norway, much thanks to her honest, down-to-earth persona. After her retirement she was regarded a national political legend in her own time.

During World War II Kvanmo worked as a nurse on the Eastern Front, for the German Red Cross. At the age of 36 she finally graduated, with top grades, and worked as a secondary school teacher in Rana, Norway from 1962 to 1973. Here she got involved in local politics, and finally in 1973 she was elected to parliament, representing the Socialist Left Party. From 1977 she became parliamentary leader for the party. Her outspoken and humorous character (considered a classical trait of people from Northern Norway) made her extremely popular with the general public, and she quickly became the most prominent member of SV at a very decisive period for the party. In 1975 and 1981 she was also a delegate to the UN general assembly. She retired from parliament in 1989. From 1991 to 2002, she was a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, serving as the committee vice chairman 1993-1998.

Kvanmo was known as a firm opponent of the EU, she also spent much of her time on peace work. After retiring from parliament she moved with her husband to southern Norway and the town of Arendal, where she turned most of her energy on being a grandmother and a great grandmother. When asked about modern politics in 1999 - ten years after she left parliament - she said: "I wouldn't touch it with a fire-poker." Her colorful nature was the stuff of legend in Norwegian politics, like the time when SV was one of the smallest parties in parliament and she said from the platform, that as long as she was in parliament, SV took up considerable space in the house (referring to her own plump figure). In 1985 Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet had a public poll where they asked their readers whom they admired the most among Norwegian men and women. King Olav V won the men's vote, Hanna Kvanmo the women. Later when asked how she managed to pull that off she answered, "I was just myself."

As the news of her death made headlines in Norway, she was remembered by her former colleagues in the political landscape. Party-colleague Berge Furre talked about her "borderless solidarity for the small. She gave politics a warm face." Former prime minister from the conservative party, K�re Willoch said of her: "She was one of the most visible politicians of her time. She had immense significance for the Socialist Left Party and perhaps saved it during a difficult time." He continued, "Her form was unusual, but she won respect. She was one of the political colleagues one will remember for as long as you have your memory. Exceptional." Former Labour leader and prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland called her "an unusually skilled debater, full of humor and fearless." Erik Solheim, SV-leader in the years following Kvanmo's retirement summed her up as somebody "who always cared for the individual, at a time when the Norwegian left wing was dominated by theorists." Stein �rnh�i, who was Kvanmo's party colleague for a four year term when SV only had two representatives in parliament, summed her up as "the last of it's kind in Norwegian politics. There will never be anyone like her again."

[edit]