Gro Harlem Brundtland | |
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![]() Brundtland in 2011 | |
29th Prime Minister of Norway | |
In office 3 November 1990 – 25 October 1996 | |
Monarchs | Olav V Harald V |
Preceded by | Jan P. Syse |
Succeeded by | Thorbjørn Jagland |
In office 9 May 1986 – 16 October 1989 | |
Monarch | Olav V |
Preceded by | Kåre Willoch |
Succeeded by | Jan P. Syse |
In office 4 February 1981 – 14 October 1981 | |
Monarch | Olav V |
Preceded by | Odvar Nordli |
Succeeded by | Kåre Willoch |
5th Director-General of the World Health Organization | |
In office 13 May 1998 – 21 July 2003 | |
Secretary-General | Kofi Annan |
Preceded by | Hiroshi Nakajima |
Succeeded by | Lee Jong-wook |
Leader of the Labour Party | |
In office 1981–1992 | |
Preceded by | Reiulf Steen |
Succeeded by | Thorbjørn Jagland |
Minister of the Environment | |
In office 6 September 1974 – 8 October 1979 | |
Prime Minister | Trygve Bratteli Odvar Nordli |
Preceded by | Tor Halvorsen |
Succeeded by | Rolf A. Hansen |
Member of the Norwegian Parliament | |
In office 1 October 1977 – 30 September 1997 | |
Deputy | Sissel Rønbeck Ivar Ødegaard Marit Nybakk Bjørn Tore Godal Rune E. Kristiansen |
Constituency | Oslo |
Personal details | |
Born | Gro Harlem 20 April 1939 Bærum, Akershus, Norway |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse |
Arne Olav Brundtland
(m. 1960; died 2024) |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | University of Oslo (Cand.Med.) Harvard University (MPH) |
Signature | ![]() |
Gro Brundtland (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈɡruː ˈhɑ̀ːlɛm ˈbrʉ̀ntlɑnː]; born Gro Harlem, 20 April 1939) is a Norwegian politician in the Labour Party,[1] who served three terms as the 29th prime minister of Norway (1981, 1986–1989, and 1990–1996), as the leader of her party from 1981 to 1992, and as the director-general of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2003. She is also known for having chaired the Brundtland Commission which presented the Brundtland Report on sustainable development.
Educated as a physician, Brundtland joined the Labour Party and entered the government in 1974 as Minister of the Environment. She became the first female prime minister of Norway[1] on 4 February 1981, but left office on 14 October 1981; she returned as prime minister on 9 May 1986 and served until 16 October 1989. She finally returned for her third term on 3 November 1990. After her surprise resignation as prime minister in 1996, she became an international leader in sustainable development and public health, and served as director-general of the World Health Organization and as UN special envoy on Climate Change from 2007 to 2010.[2] She is also deputy chair of The Elders and a former vice-president of Socialist International.
Brundtland belonged to the moderate wing of her party and supported Norwegian membership in the European Union during the 1994 referendum. As prime minister, Brundtland became widely known as the "mother of the nation".[3] Brundtland received the 1994 Charlemagne Prize, and has received many other awards and recognitions.