Målfrid Grude Flekkøy

Målfrid Grude Flekkøy (née Skard) (29 November 1936 – 2 November 2013) was a Norwegian chief psychologist and civil servant.

Målfrid Grude Skard was born in Oslo, the daughter of professor Sigmund Skard (1903–1995) and one of the best-known child psychologists in Norway, Åse Gruda Skard (1905–1985).^[2][3] She was a sister of Anne, Åsmund and Halvdan Skard and twin sister of Torild Skard.^[4][5] Through her mother, she was the granddaughter of historian and minister of foreign affairs Halvdan Koht and women's activist Karen Grude Koht,^[6] and through her father she was the 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 the 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. She was married for a second time, from 1983 to 1995, to Truls Wilhelm Gedde-Dahl (born 1930).^[7]

Career

Målfrid Grude Flekkøy grew up in Norway and the US. 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 studied in Århus, Denmark, to become a preschool teacher. She received her

From 1959 to 1960, she was a kindergarten teacher in Oslo. Then she worked as a psychologist at the

From 1981 to 1989, Flekkøy was the Children's Commissioner in Norway; the first commissioner of its kind in the world.^[7] She developed a new role based on hard work and professional thoroughness and rooted it both in politics and the children. She contributed to the expansion of research on children in Norway and pioneered the efforts to obtain a total ban on corporal punishment, which was adopted in 1987. Many countries followed the example of the Nordic countries in this area. Afterwards she became a senior fellow at UNICEF's International Child Development Center in Florence, Italy, to promote the concept of children's commissioner worldwide. She traveled internationally and assisted among others Costa Rica in establishing the commissioner institution. In addition she wrote books and articles, including Working for the Rights of Children (UNICEF, Florence, 1990) and her doctor's thesis, "A Voice for Children" (UNICEF, London, Kingsley, 1991), which she dedicated to her mother. At her death in 2013 the Norwegian government thanked Flekkøy for her efforts for children and youth both in Norway and abroad; the Norwegian Commissioner for Equality, Sunniva Ørstavik, proposed that a parade street in Oslo should be named after Flekkøy, and UNICEF noted that Flekkøy had been an example and an advocate for children's rights worldwide.^[9][10][11]

From 1964 to 1971, Flekkøy was secretary and acting secretary general for the World Organization for Early Childhood Education and Care (OMEP). From 1986 to 1989, she was secretary general for the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP). In 1992 she became Vice President Europe of Defence for Children International and collaborator in The International Journal of Children's Rights and, in 1998, president of the Children's Rights Publications Foundation in the Netherlands. In 2006 she was designated an honorary member of OMEP for her efforts.^[12][13]

References