Jo Benkow

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

Norwegian politician and writer

title: "Jo Benkow" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1924-births", "2013-deaths", "presidents-of-the-storting", "norwegian-writers", "jewish-norwegian-politicians", "politicians-from-trondheim", "politicians-from-bærum", "royal-norwegian-air-force-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "leaders-of-the-conservative-party-(norway)", "20th-century-norwegian-jews", "21st-century-norwegian-jews", "members-of-the-storting-1989–1993", "members-of-the-storting-1985–1989", "members-of-the-storting-1981–1985", "members-of-the-storting-1977–1981", "members-of-the-storting-1973–1977", "members-of-the-storting-1969–1973", "members-of-the-storting-1965–1969"] description: "Norwegian politician and writer" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Benkow" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Norwegian politician and writer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

FieldValue
nameJo Benkow
imageJo Benkow.jpg
office1President of the Storting
term_start19 October 1985
term_end130 September 1993
monarch1Olav V
Harald V
primeminister1Kåre Willoch
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Jan P. Syse
vicepresident1Reiulf Steen
Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl
predecessor1Per Hysing-Dahl
successor1Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl
office2Conservative Parliamentary leader
term_start21 October 1981
term_end230 September 1985
primeminister2Kåre Willoch
leader2Himself
Erling Norvik
predecessor2Kåre Willoch
successor2Jan P. Syse
office3Leader of the Conservative Party
term_start34 May 1980
term_end325 August 1984
1blankname3First Deputy
1namedata3Håkon Randal
2blankname3Second Deputy
2namedata3Astrid Gjertsen
Kaci Kullmann Five
predecessor3Erling Norvik
successor3Erling Norvik
office4First Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party
term_start416 April 1978
term_end44 May 1980
leader4Erling Norvik
predecessor4Lars T. Platou
successor4Håkon Randal
office5Second Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party
term_start512 May 1974
term_end516 April 1978
leader5Erling Norvik
predecessor5Per Hysing-Dahl
successor5Astrid Gjertsen
office6Member of the Norwegian Parliament
term_start61 October 1965
term_end630 September 1993
constituency6Akershus
birth_nameJosef Elias Benkowitz
birth_date
birth_placeTrondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
death_date
death_placeOslo, Norway
nationalityNorwegian
occupationPolitician
partyConservative
professionphotographer
spouseAnnelise Høegh
allegianceNorway
branchAir Force
::

| honorific_prefix = | name = Jo Benkow | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Jo Benkow.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | office1= President of the Storting | term_start1= 9 October 1985 | term_end1= 30 September 1993 | monarch1 = Olav V Harald V | primeminister1= Kåre Willoch Gro Harlem Brundtland Jan P. Syse | vicepresident1= Reiulf Steen Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl | predecessor1= Per Hysing-Dahl | successor1= Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl | office2= Conservative Parliamentary leader | term_start2= 1 October 1981 | term_end2= 30 September 1985 | primeminister2= Kåre Willoch | leader2= Himself Erling Norvik | predecessor2= Kåre Willoch | successor2= Jan P. Syse | office3= Leader of the Conservative Party | term_start3= 4 May 1980 | term_end3= 25 August 1984 | 1blankname3= First Deputy | 1namedata3= Håkon Randal | 2blankname3= Second Deputy | 2namedata3= Astrid Gjertsen Kaci Kullmann Five | predecessor3= Erling Norvik | successor3=Erling Norvik | office4= First Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party | term_start4= 16 April 1978 | term_end4= 4 May 1980 | leader4= Erling Norvik | predecessor4= Lars T. Platou | successor4= Håkon Randal | office5= Second Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party | term_start5= 12 May 1974 | term_end5= 16 April 1978 | leader5= Erling Norvik | predecessor5= Per Hysing-Dahl | successor5= Astrid Gjertsen | office6= Member of the Norwegian Parliament | term_start6= 1 October 1965 | term_end6= 30 September 1993 | constituency6= Akershus | birth_name = Josef Elias Benkowitz | birth_date = | birth_place = Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway | death_date = | death_place = Oslo, Norway | monuments = | residence = | nationality = Norwegian | occupation = Politician | employer = | organization = | agent = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | influences = | influenced = | party = Conservative | movement = | opponents = | profession = photographer |spouse=Annelise Høegh |allegiance = Norway |branch = Air Force

Jo Benkow (born Josef Elias Benkowitz; 15 August 1924 – 18 May 2013) was a Norwegian politician and writer, notable for being an important person in the Conservative Party of Norway, and the President of the Parliament 1985–1993. He was also President of the Nordic Council in 1983.

Private life

Jo Benkow was born in Trondheim, Norway, to Jewish parents, Ivan Benkow (1885–1955) and Annie Louise Florence (1895–1942). The family moved to the municipality of Bærum outside Oslo when Jo was a child. Jo Benkow married Bjørg Gerda Folkestad (1930–2012) in 1952, but the marriage dissolved in 1983. From 1985 he was married to fellow politician Annelise Høegh (1948–2015), former parliamentary representative for the Conservative Party, and daughter of war aviator Anders Høegh (1920– 1989). He was the uncle of journalistic fraudster Bjørn Benkow (1940–2010).

As a member of the tiny Jewish minority of Norway, he experienced first-hand prejudice while growing up. In 1942, he fled persecution by the Nazis occupying Norway, to Sweden. His mother and sister were deported by the Nazi regime from Norway and murdered in Auschwitz. Jo reached the United Kingdom where he served in the Royal Norwegian Air Force. He returned after the war and took up photography as a trade, his father's profession.

Political career

In 1965 he was elected to the Parliament of Norway, representing the Conservative Party. In parliament he soon became a leading figure, as party leader 1980–84, group leader of the Conservative Party in parliament 1981–85 and most notably becoming President of the Storting (Speaker) on 9 October 1985, a position he held until his retirement on 30 September 1993, after 28 years in parliament.

Benkow served as president of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, taught international relations at Boston University, and has written books on human rights, modern monarchy in Norway, and other issues. His autobiography Fra Synagogen til Løvebakken (From the synagogue to Løvebakken; Løvebakken refers to a place outside the Parliament) published in 1985 sold 250,000 copies in Norway and earned him the Norwegian Booksellers' Prize. His book Olav – menneske og monark ("Olav – Man and Monarch"), a product of several conversations with his friend King Olav V, was a huge bestseller as well.

He was also a much sought-after lecturer on issues concerning the Middle East and Anti-Semitism. In recent years he managed to create some controversy when he criticized former prime minister and party colleague Kåre Willoch, calling him "the most biased person in the country," on account of Willoch's views on the Middle East and his criticism of Israeli politics.

Benkow died on 18 May 2013, at a hospital in Oslo, aged 88.

Awards

Books

  • Fra synagogen til Løvebakken (1985); From Synagogue to Parliament
  • Folkevalgt (1988); Elected by the People
  • Haakon, Maud og Olav. Et minnealbum i tekst og bilder (1989); Haakon, Maud and Olav. A Memorial Album of Text and Images
  • Hundre år med konge og folk (1990); A Hundred Years with King and Nation
  • Olav – menneske og monark (1991); Olav – Man and Monarch
  • Det ellevte bud (1994, with afterword by Elie Wiesel); The Eleventh Commandment

References

Article in Aftenposten, May 2004 (in Norwegian) on the Norwegian Refugee Council and Kåre Willoch's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

References

  1. [[Lars Roar Langslet]]: [http://snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Jo_Benkow/utdypning Jo Benkow] {{in lang. no ''[[Store norske leksikon]]'', retrieved 18 May 2013
  2. [http://www.dagbladet.no/magasinet/2007/05/07/499914.html Juksemaker'n – portrettet – Dagbladet.no]
  3. [https://www.geni.com/people/Annie-Louise-Florence/6000000020720279051 Annie Louise Florence ]
  4. [https://www.geni.com/people/Rebekka-Cecilie-Oster/6000000020704341513 Rebekka Cecilie Oster]
  5. [http://www.amscan.org/benkow.html] {{webarchive. link. (3 July 2008)
  6. "Jo Benkow er død – VG Nett". Vg.no.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1924-births2013-deathspresidents-of-the-stortingnorwegian-writersjewish-norwegian-politicianspoliticians-from-trondheimpoliticians-from-bærumroyal-norwegian-air-force-personnel-of-world-war-iileaders-of-the-conservative-party-(norway)20th-century-norwegian-jews21st-century-norwegian-jewsmembers-of-the-storting-1989–1993members-of-the-storting-1985–1989members-of-the-storting-1981–1985members-of-the-storting-1977–1981members-of-the-storting-1973–1977members-of-the-storting-1969–1973members-of-the-storting-1965–1969