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Kerstin Birgitta Adamina Norén

1929-04-252014-01-26

Jurist, county administrative court judge, pioneer

Birgitta Norén was the first female judge to serve Gävle Länsrätt (county court). In 1979 she was the only woman in a senior position on Gävleborg county administrative board, which comprised 28 senior posts.

Birgitta Norén was born Kerstin Birgitta Adamina Waldau in Stockholm in 1929. She was the daughter of Gunnar and Inger Waldau. She underwent innumerable operations on her serious cleft palate from her earliest years as doctors attempted to create a “normal” gum, mouth, and nose for her. The frequency of her operations meant that during her school years Birgitta Norén missed many months of schooling and that she then had to take extra lessons during the summer months or in addition to her regular schooling during the school year. Despite many sessions with speech therapists she was not always able to speak intelligibly. She continued her speech therapy for many years, into the 1970s, and this would include spending her evenings reading aloud to her husband, recording her voice, and then analysing her speech.

Birgitta Norén first attended Lidingö Privatskola (private school) in the autumn of 1936. From the autumn of 1940 onwards she attended a seven-year course in the theoretical department of Vasastadens kommunala flickskola (municipal girls’ school) in Stockholm. On 3 June 1949 she matriculated at Nya Elementar girls’ school in Stockholm. Birgitta Norén gained her legal degree at Stockholm college and then undertook a period of legal service in the Gotland jurisdiction, and finally, after a few years in Stockholm, gained a post at Gävle länsskatterätt (county tax court). On 20 June 1959 Birgitta Norén married Thorsten Norén, also a lawyer, and the couple resided in Gävle for the rest of their lives.

The Norén couple was active in the Red Cross and on telephone hotlines such as Medmänniska and Brottsofferjouren (support for victims of crime) for many decades. Birgitta Norén was elected into Inner Wheel (the women’s branch of the Rotary). She was a long-time member of a weaving group and she attended courses in other forms of handicrafts.

The fact that Birgitta Norén successfully forged a legal career for herself reveals a lot about her legal skills, her diligence and work ethic, as well as her ability to collaborate with colleagues and others, especially given that it was still unusual for women to do this towards the late 1970s. The then governor of Gävle, Hans Hagnell, described Birgitta Norén as “being thoroughly knowledgeable, efficient, with a remarkable sense of responsibility and very adept at mentoring younger colleagues”.

Birgitta Norén retired on 1 April 1996, then aged 67. At that time she was a county judge but had also served as a district judge.

Birgitta Norén died in 2013. She is buried beside her husband at Skogskyrkogården (cemetery) in Gävle.


Lena Adamina Waldau
(Translated by Alexia Grosjean)


Published 2020-08-19



You are welcome to cite this article but always provide the author’s name as follows:

Kerstin Birgitta Adamina Norén, www.skbl.se/sv/artikel/BirgittaNoren, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (article by Lena Adamina Waldau), retrieved 2024-10-05.




Other Names

    Maiden name: Waldau


Family Relationships

Civil Status: Widow
  • Mother: Inger Adamina Waldau, född Petersson
  • Father: Gunnar Oskar Bertil Waldau
  • Brother: Göran Olof Oskar Waldau
  • Husband: Thorsten Gustaf Norén


Education

  • Yrkesutbildning, Stockholm: Maskinskrivningskurs, Påhlmans Handelsinstitut
  • Högskola, Stockholm: Jur.kand.examen, Stockholms högskola


Activities

  • Profession: Notarie, tingsmeritering, Gotlands domsaga
  • Profession: Länsnotarie, fr o m 1960 taxeringsinspektör, fr o m 1967 biträdande taxeringsintendent, Gävleborgs länsstyrelse
  • Profession: Enhetschef, länskatterätten i Gävle
  • Profession: Rådman, Gävleborgs länsrätt


Organisations

  • Yrkeskvinnors Klubb (YK)
    Medlem
  • International Inner Wheel
    Medlem
  • Röda korset
    Medlem, Gävleföreningen
  • Jourhavande Medmänniska
    Medlem


Residences

  • Birthplace: Stockholm
  • Stockholm
  • Visby
more ...


Sources

Unpublished source
  • Släktmaterial

  • Waldau, Lena, Besvikelserna landskap: småborgares livsvillkor 1800-1960

Literature
  • Arbetarebladet Gävle, 1979-01-13

  • Arbetarebladet Gävle, 1996-03-22



Birgitta Norén, circa 1970s. Photographer unknown (privately owned image)
Birgitta Norén, circa 1970s. Photographer unknown (privately owned image)

Keywords

20th century Lawyers