Kaci Kullmann Five

File:Kaci Kullmann Five.jpg

Kaci Kullmann Five

Karin Cecilie "Kaci" Kullmann Five (born 13 April 1951) (pronounced [kasi kʉllmann fivɛ]) is a Norwegian businessperson, politician for the Conservative Party and the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the annual Nobel Peace Prize. She served as Minister of Trade and Shipping from 1989 to 1990 and as a Member of Parliament from 1981 to 1997, and was leader of the Conservative Party from 1991 to 1994. A member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2003, she is also a board member of the Nobel Foundation.

Background and education

She was born Karin Cecilie Kullmann in Bærum, the daughter of a dentist, and is known by the nickname "Kaci" (pronounced [kasi]). She was educated in law, French language and political science, and graduated with the cand.polit. degree in political science at the University of Oslo in 1981. Before Kullmann entered politics she was a consultant at the Norwegian Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO).

Since 1972, she has been married to Carsten O. Five, former editor of the finance magazine Dine Penger. They have two children.

Political career

She was member of the municipal council of Bærum 1975–1981 and then served as deputy leader of the Executive Committee for Education. From 1977 to 1979 she was the first female President of the Norwegian Young Conservatives.

She was a member of the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, from 1981 to 1997. She was Deputy Chairwoman of the Conservative Opposition 1986-1989, and again 1990-1991. From 1982 to 1988 she also served as Deputy Party Chairwoman. Kullmann served as Minister of Trade and Shipping in the Cabinet Syse from 1989 to 1990. In 1991 she was elected chairwoman of the Conservative Party, succeeding Jan P. Syse, but resigned after four years in 1994.

After politics

After leaving parliament in 1997 Kullmann has been a Managing Director in Aker RGI and since 2002 active as an independent consultant. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of several large companies and organisations, including Statoil, Norway's largest petroleum company, Scheiblers Legacy, SOS Kinderdorf Norway and Radio Channel P4.

Nobel Prize roles

Kaci Kullmann Five was elected by the Storting as a deputy member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, for the term 2000–2003. In 2003, she was elected as one of the five regular members, and has been reelected ever since. In March 2015, she was elected by the committee as its new chairperson, succeeding Thorbjørn Jagland. Since 2009, she has been one of the seven regular board members of the Sweden-based Nobel Foundation, which has the overall responsibility for all the five Nobel Prizes.

As a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, she has been involved in the decisions to award the Nobel Peace Prize to, among others, Shirin Ebadi, Al Gore, Martti Ahtisaari, Barack Obama, Liu Xiaobo and the European Union. Five has praised Thorbjørn Jagland for his leadership of the Nobel committee and stated that she supported all the prizes awarded when Jagland was chairman. She has harshly criticized the People's Republic of China over its treatment of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo; she has demanded that the Chinese communist regime releases Liu Xiaobo and "stops persecuting his wife."

Publications

• Erfaringer med etableringsloven. Cand.polit. dissertation in political science, University of Oslo, 1981.
• Det nye Europa, with Jan Petersen. Oslo: Conservative Party of Norway, 1990.
• Avslutningstale på Høyres landsmøte 1991. Oslo: Conservative Party of Norway, 1991.
• "Norges plass i europeisk samarbeid". In: Norsk militært tidsskrift, no. 12, 1992.

References

Party political offices
Preceded by Per Kristian Foss	Chair of the Norwegian Young Conservatives 1977–1979	Succeeded by Terje Osmundsen
Preceded by Jan Peder Syse	Chair of the Conservative Party 1991–1994	Succeeded by Jan Petersen
Political offices
Preceded by Jan Balstad	Norwegian Minister of Trade and Shipping 1989–1990	Succeeded by Eldrid Nordbø