Gro Harlem Brundtland

Gro Harlem Brundtland
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 (1939-04-20) 20 April 1939 (age 85) Bærum, Akershus, Norway
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Arne Olav Brundtland
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 (Arbeiderpartiet),^[1] who served three terms as the 29th prime minister of Norway (1981, 1986–1989, and 1990–1996), as the leader of the Labour 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.