Målfrid Grude Flekkøy
| Målfrid Grude Flekkøy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
29 November 1936 Oslo, Norway |
| Died | 2 November 2013 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Occupation | Psychologist |
| Known for | First Children's Commissioner in Norway |
| Parent(s) |
Sigmund Skard Åse Gruda Skard |
| Relatives |
Halvdan Skard (brother) Torild Skard (twin sister) Halvdan Koht (grandfather) Karen Grude Koht (grandmother) Matias Skard (grandfather) Paul Koht (uncle) Tobias Gedde-Dahl (father-in-law) |
Målfrid Grude Flekkøy (29 November 1936 – 2 November 2013) was a Norwegian chief psychologist and civil servant. Having worked for several years in different health and educational institutions for children she was appointed as Children's Commissioner in Norway from 1981 to 1989, the first person in the world to hold such a position. She established and developed the role, and after eight years (two terms) the UN Organization for Children UNICEF engaged her to assist in spreading the institution to other countries. Målfrid Grude Flekkøy travelled extensively, participated in professional organizations and wrote books and articles on children's rights. At her death in 2013, more the 80 children's commissioners were set up around the world.
Målfrid Skard was born in Oslo as a daughter of professor Sigmund Skard (1903–1995) and one of the most known child psychologists in Norway Åse Gruda Skard (1905–1985). She was a sister of Anne, Åsmund and Halvdan Skard and twin sister of Torild Skard Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of historian and minister of foreign affairs Halvdan Koht and women's activist Karen Grude Koht, and through her father she was a granddaughter of superintendent of schools Matias Skard and teacher Gyda Benedikte born Christensen and niece of Torfinn, Bjarne, Eiliv, Olav, Vemund and Gunhild Skard and Målfrid Birkeland. She was also a niece of Paul Koht.
From 1962 to 1981 she was married to psychologist Kjell Magne Flekkøy (born 1939) and had three children: Eirik, Kjetil and Ingunn. From 1983 to 1995 she had her second marriage to Truls Wilhelm Gedde-Dahl (born 1930).
Målfrid Grude Flekkøy grew up in Norway and USA. When German troops attacked Norway in 1940, the family fled to the US. In 1945 they moved back to Norway and Målfrid finished secondary school at Stabekk near Oslo in 1956. She then took education as a preschool teacher in Århus, Denmark. She took the cand.psychol. degree at the University of Oslo in 1967 and became a specialist in clinical psychology in 1973. In 1991 she took the doctor's degree at the University of Ghent, Belgium.
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