Thorvald Stoltenberg

Thorvald Stoltenberg
Photo: Harry Wad (2007)
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1987 1990 – 1989 1993
Monarch	Olav V Harald V
Prime Minister	Gro Harlem Brundtland
Preceded by	Knut Frydenlund Kjell Magne Bondevik
Succeeded by	Kjell Magne Bondevik Johan Jørgen Holst
Personal details
Born	(1931-07-08) 8 July 1931 Oslo, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Political party	Norwegian Labour Party
Children	Jens Stoltenberg Camilla Stoltenberg Nini Stoltenberg

Thorvald Stoltenberg (born 8 July 1931 in Oslo) is a former Norwegian politician. His ancestors stem from Tønsberg. He served as Minister of Defense (1979–81) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1987–1989 and 1990–1993) in two Labour governments.

From 1989 to 1990 he was appointed Norwegian Ambassador to the UN. In 1990 he became the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, but served only one year before rejoining the Norwegian government. In 1992, Thorvald Stoltenberg, together with 9 Baltic Ministers of Foreign Affairs and an EU commissioner, founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the EuroFaculty. In 1993 appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the former Yugoslavia and UN Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia. Thorvald Stoltenberg was also witness of the United Nations on signing of Erdut Agreement.

In 2003 he was Chairman of the Board of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Between 1999 and 2008 he was President of the Norwegian Red Cross, the only president to serve three terms. He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission, and holds a seat on their Executive Committee.^{[citation needed]}

He married Karin née Heiberg (1931-2012) in 1957. Their son, Jens Stoltenberg (b. 1959), followed him into politics and is, since October 2005, serving as Prime Minister of Norway. They also have two daughters, Camilla (b. 1958), a medical researcher and administrator, and Nini (b. 1963) whose heroin addiction has been much publicized.

Recently, Stoltenberg has led a commission whose primary purpose was to recommend changes in Norwegian drug policy to improve the situation of hard drug addicts. The question of heroin prescription was one of the most controversial topics evaluated by the commission set up by Bjarne Håkon Hanssen. The commission concluded in June 2010 that Norway should start trials with heroin prescription, in addition to making several other changes to its drug policy. He also joined an international campaign for a less punitive drug policy, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, consisting of, among others, former Latin American leaders.

Youth

In his youth Stoltenberg became heavily involved in the organization of Hungarian refugees fleeing the invading Soviet Army in 1956. In one particular situation, evacuating refugees by boat in the middle of the night, he jumped into the strong currents, risking his own life to save one of the boats. One of the other rescuers, future famous American journalist Barry Farber called this the greatest act of courage he has ever seen in his life. Stoltenberg himself kept the story a secret, until Farber in December 2006 revealed it on the Norwegian talk-show Først & sist.

See also

• "Thorvald Stoltenberg" (in Norwegian). Stortinget.no. 
• Family Genealogy (vestraat.net)

Political offices
Preceded by Rolf Arthur Hansen	Norwegian Minister of Defence 1979–1981	Succeeded by Anders C. Sjaastad
Preceded by Knut Frydenlund	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1987–1989	Succeeded by Kjell Magne Bondevik
Preceded by Kjell Magne Bondevik	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1990–1993	Succeeded by Johan Jørgen Holst
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Tom Vraalsen	Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations 1989–1990	Succeeded by Martin Huslid
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg	President of the Norwegian Red Cross 1998–2008	Succeeded by Sven Mollekleiv