Helga Hernes

Helga Marie Hernes (born 16 January 1938) is a German-born Norwegian political scientist, diplomat, and politician for the Labour Party.

Educated in the United States, she moved to Norway following her marriage to Norwegian sociologist and politician Gudmund Hernes whom she met during her studies. She was on faculty at the Department of Sociology [no] at the University of Bergen from 1970 to 1980 and subsequently held a number of positions in research management. Her research during the 1970s and 1980s focused on international politics, women's studies and the welfare state, and she is well known for her concept of state feminism, articulated in 1987. Her recent research has focused on gender, armed conflict and security, including the implications of the UN resolution on women, peace and security.

In 1988 she joined Gro Harlem Brundtland's government as State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After leaving the government in 1993 she was Director of the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, and served as Norway's ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, Switzerland and the Holy See. In 2005 she joined the Peace Research Institute Oslo. She held a part-time chair as professor of political science at the University of Oslo from 1993 to 1998.