Turid Birkeland (5 November 1962 – 24 December 2015) was a Norwegian cultural executive and politician for the Labour Party. She was Minister of Culture in 1996–97. She was an author and also worked in television, including being chief of cultural programming at NRK and a member of the board at Telenor. She also headed the Risør Chamber Music Festival, and was the director of Concerts Norway.

Early life and education Birkeland was born in Haugesund as a daughter of trade unionist Einar Sigurd Birkeland and consultant Tora Birkeland on 5 November 1962. Her father was secretary in the Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers in the 1970s,"Jern og Metall om voksenopplæring: Permisjon med lønn", Aftenposten, 18 October 1978, p. 3 and later became international secretary in the United Federation of Trade Unions and rector of Sørmarka Folk High School."Ny rektor på LO-skolen", Aftenposten, 29 October 1992, p. 30

Turid Birkeland received her secondary education at Bjerke Upper Secondary School in Oslo,"Sprek 25-åring med nytt navn", Utdanningsetaten, Oslo kommune : "I 1977 ble det startet en videregående skole på Linderud. ... En tidligere elev som begynte på skolen da den var ganske ny, var Turid Birkeland." - "In 1977 a secondary school was opened in Linderud. ... A former student who started at the school when it was completely new was Turid Birkeland." graduating in 1981. She attended college from 1982 to 1983,Birkeland, Turid (1962- ): Arbeiderpartiet, Stortinget and held an ex.phil."..og dette kunne Jaglands lag:", Dagbladet, 18 September 1998

Career She led her party's youth organization, the Workers' Youth League, in Oslo from 1985 to 1986 and nationwide from 1989 to 1992. Birkeland has said that she was unaware of inflated membership numbers in the Workers' Youth League that came to light after her tenure."Visste om triksing", Verdens Gang, 11 March 1998

She was elected as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway in the 1985 election, but served as a regular representative through most of the term from 1986 to 1989, as a cover for Knut Frydenlund and Sissel Rønbeck who were members of Brundtland's Second Cabinet. She was a member of the Standing Committee on Education and Church Affairs. From 1993 to 1994, she worked for the Norwegian People's Aid as well as the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions branch in Brussels. In 1994, she was one of the spearheads in the campaign for Norway to join the European Union,Turid Birkeland", Store norske leksikon which failed following a referendum on the issue.

From 1995 to 1996, she worked brief tenures as a television and radio presenter in TV+, Reiseradioen and TVNorge. From October 1996 to October 1997, she served as Minister of Culture, in the Cabinet of Thorbjørn Jagland, at which time her profession was given as journalist.Thorbjørn Jaglands regjering: 25. oktober 1996 - 17. oktober 1997, Regjeringen.no In April 1997, during her term, she made the first official visit to Cuba by a Norwegian government minister, setting up a cultural exchange agreement."Norge og Cuba", I dag, Aftenposten, 11 April 1997, p. 14 Dokument nr. 15:10, Spørsmål nr. 99, innlevert 11 desember 1998, Spørsmål til skriftlig besvarelse med svar, Parliament of Norway, p. 102 (pdf)Johan Brox, "Cuba: Eit nytt, norsk Cuba-eventyr", Dag og Tid 51–52, 21 December 2000

After her spell as Minister of Culture, which ended following the 1997 election, Birkeland returned to Reiseradioen in 1998, and was a presenter in the channel NRK 2 from 1998 to 1999. She was then a producer and manager at Rubicon TV from 1999 to 2001, and director of cultural programming in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation from 2001 to 2004. She was also a member of the board at Telenor from 2007 to 2012 and the Norwegian Academy of Music from 2009. After three years as board member of the Risør Chamber Music Festival from 1997 to 2001, she was its managing director from 2004 to 2010. From June 2006 to April 2007, she also ran Café Solsiden in the same town.Gunnar Kleiberg, "Kaffe-kjerringa er sagt opp: Etter bare ni måneder som Risørs mest kjente kafevert, eller kaffekjerring om du vil, er det slutt", NRK news, 3 April 2007 Catherine Gonsholt Ighanian, "Turid Birkeland sagt opp: Eks-kulturminister Turid Birkeland (44) har fått sparken som kafévertinne i Risør", Verdens Gang, 3 April 2007 She also had a brief tenure in the publishing house Piratforlaget between 2005 and 2006.

On 16 April 2012, Birkeland became director of Concerts Norway, succeeding Åse Kleveland, who had also been her predecessor as Minister of Culture.Trine Andersen, "Turid Birkeland ny direktør for Rikskonsertene: En tidligere kulturminister tar over for annen tidligere kulturminister", Aftenposten, 14 February 2012 "Norge—Statsråder—med tiltredelsesdato", Store norske leksikon , updated 30 July 2012. In the same year she became board member of Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. She was also a supervisory council member in Oslo Bolig- og Sparelag.

Death In 2011, Birkeland was diagnosed as suffering from myelofibrosis. She died on 24 December 2015, aged 53, from complications of the illness.

Selected publications (ed., with Gunvor Risa). Litteratur for barn: artiklar om barns bøker og lesing. Skriftserie, Landslaget for norskundervisning, 54; Cappelen fakta. Oslo: Cappelen, 1990. (with Sigurd Sandvin). Alle fakta på bordet. Oslo: Cappelen, 1992. KK: Kvinner kann. Oslo: Det norske arbeiderparti Arbeidernes opplysningsforbund, 1996. Stockholm. Damms reisebøker; Din guide til storbyen. Oslo: Damm, 2001 London. Damms reisebøker; Din guide til storbyen. Oslo: Damm, 2005.

References

Further reading Mie Sundberg. "Mindre Turbo-Turid". NRK Kultur. 30 October 2003 Gunhild Aaslie Soldal. "Turid Birkeland: Kultur-comebacket: Rikskonsertenes nye direktør Turid Birkeland (49) er beredt på å være synlig igjen". Interview. Nationen. 24 February 2012

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