Torstein Tynning
Torstein Tynning (1932–2000), Member of Parliament for Telemark 1965–1985. Photo: Stortinget.
The Statesman
Torstein Tynning
b. 1932 – d. 2000, Porsgrunn
The farmer at Søndre Valler who led the Young Conservatives and spent twenty years in Parliament (1932–2000).
When Torstein Tynning died on 18 November 2000, aged 68, the obituaries in the days that followed appeared not only in Porsgrunns Dagblad, Varden and Telemarksavisa, but also in Aftenposten and Bergens Tidende. It had been the same for his father, when the obituaries for Lasse Tynning ran in newspapers across the country in 1964. But where the father was the man of the parish and the county, the son had stepped fully onto the national stage: five terms in Parliament for Telemark, national chairman of the Young Conservatives, and the man who led the work on the party programme the Conservatives went to the polls with in 1981.
An odelsgutt in a political home
Torstein was born on 4 June 1932 at Søndre Valler in Eidanger, the middle child of the siblings; his elder sister Brita was born in 1929, and after him came Åsmund in 1942. He grew up in a home where civic life was everyday fare: his father Lasse was a farmers' league chairman and a driving local politician, his mother Åshild a teacher, farm women's league leader and school board member. The path into farming was short. Torstein completed Telemark Agricultural School in 1952, and from that same year Parliament's biography lists him as a farmer at Valler søndre, an occupation he held on to until 1994, throughout his political life.
But in his choice of party he went his own way. His father stood with the Farmers' Party, later the Centre Party; the son joined the Conservatives. Already in 1956, in his mid-twenties, Torstein became chairman of Telemark Young Conservatives, and from that year his name appears regularly in the newspaper columns of Porsgrunns Dagblad, Varden and Telemark Arbeiderblad. In 1959 he entered Eidanger municipal council, in the very same local politics where his father fronted the Centre Party. At the kitchen table at Valler there must have been two party programmes in circulation.
The Young Conservative chieftain
From Telemark he rose quickly in the youth organisation: central board member from 1958, deputy chairman of the national board 1961–62, and in 1963 national chairman of the Young Conservatives, a position he held until 1965. He thus stood in the same line of Young Conservative leaders that includes names such as Jan P. Syse before him and Kaci Kullmann Five after him. At the same time he sat on the Conservative Party's central board, first in 1963–65 and then continuously from 1973 to 1985.
Twenty years in Parliament
In 1961 Torstein became a deputy representative to Parliament from Telemark, and his father just managed to see him on his way into national politics before he himself passed away in the autumn of 1964. At the 1965 election Torstein was elected as a full representative, aged 33, and the voters of Telemark re-elected him four times: he served continuously from 1965 to 1985, twenty years to the day according to Parliament's own record of seniority.
His fields followed his background: first the Agriculture Committee (1965–69 and 1973–77), then the Local Government Committee and the Local Government and Environment Committee through much of the 1970s and 80s, before in his final term he moved into the Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Committee and the enlarged foreign affairs committee (1981–84). He was a deputy representative to the UN General Assembly in 1973, sat in Parliament's delegation to the Nordic Council 1978–81, was a member of the Conservative parliamentary group executive and for a time deputy whip for the parliamentary group. And in the department of curiosities: deputy member of the Wine Monopoly's council for fifteen years.
Perhaps the most important position of all was the least visible in public: from 1977 to 1981 Torstein was chairman of the Conservative Party's programme committee. It was the programme from this work that the party went to the polls with in 1981, the election in which the Conservatives made their best post-war result and Kåre Willoch formed a government. The farmer from Eidanger thus sat at the drawing board ahead of the conservative wave itself.
Family and legacy
Torstein was married to Solveig Prøis, who left her own mark as co-author of the book «Hvem er de, hvem var de? Telemarkinger i norsk toppidrett» (2000). They had the daughters Tone, Signe and Gro. Signe Prøis Tynning (b. 1961) became a journalist and a well-known voice in Norwegian radio and television, and her son Christian Tynning Bjørnø (b. 1985) took the family back to Parliament: he represented Telemark 2013–2017, but for the Labour Party. Three generations in elected office, in three different parties: Lasse for the Centre Party in local politics, Torstein for the Conservatives in Parliament, and the grandson for Labour in the same place. The commitment was clearly inherited; the party card was not.
Torstein Tynning died on 18 November 2000. The obituaries and tributes appeared in the newspapers between 21 and 28 November, among them three times in Aftenposten, and in all the Telemark papers.
Sources and further traces
Parliament's biography database (stortinget.no, perid TOTY): dates of birth and death, parents, education, occupation, committees, positions of trust and delegations. Digitised newspapers at the National Library (nb.no): Porsgrunns Dagblad, Varden and Telemark Arbeiderblad from 1956 onwards; obituaries 21–28 November 2000 in Aftenposten, Bergens Tidende, Porsgrunns Dagblad, Varden, Telemarksavisa and Vest-Telemark Blad (newspaper volumes after 1945 require a login at nb.no). English Wikipedia on Torstein Tynning. Parliament's biography of Christian Tynning Bjørnø. Note two open questions for the family: Parliament's biography lists Torstein as a farmer at Valler søndre 1952–1994, while the family account says Åsmund took over Søndre Valler from 1965; did the brothers each run their own part? Images: the portrait above is from Parliament's biography page and may be used freely with the credit «Foto: Stortinget». In addition, the Museums of Akershus hold three press photographs of Torstein from the archive of Østlandets Blad (1976, «innsendt foto», inventory no. MIA.ØB.03684-01 among others) at digitaltmuseum.no; the licence there is «contact owner», but images can be ordered directly from the museum via the page. The family's own albums are otherwise the best source.
From the newspaper archive
Torstein Tynning nominated
The front page of Kragerø Blad, 30 March 1965 — the year he was elected to Parliament for Telemark. Click to view the whole page.
National Library of Norway (nb.no) — digitised newspaper archive
Role in the family story
The family's voice in national politics and public service.
Connection
Born and raised at Søndre Valler in Eidanger — the Porsgrunn line's path into national life.
Key dates
- Born 4 June 1932 at Søndre Valler in Eidanger, died 18 November 2000
- Education: Telemark Agricultural School 1952
- Occupation: farmer at Valler søndre 1952–1994
- Eidanger municipal council 1959–1964, Porsgrunn executive committee 1965–1971
- Chairman of Telemark Young Conservatives 1956–1958, national chairman of the Young Conservatives 1963–1965
- Deputy representative to Parliament 1961–1965, full representative for Telemark (the Conservatives) 1965–1985 — five terms, 20 years
- Committees: Agriculture, Local Government, Local Government and Environment, Foreign Affairs and Constitutional (1981–84)
- Chairman of the Conservative Party's programme committee 1977–1981 — the programme behind the 1981 election victory
- Deputy representative to the UN General Assembly 1973, Nordic Council delegation 1978–1981
Family relationships
- Son of Lasse Tynning and Åshild Haugland
- Brother of Brita and Åsmund
- Married to Solveig Prøis
- Father of Tone, Signe and Gro
- Grandfather of Christian Tynning Bjørnø, MP for Telemark (Labour) 2013–2017
Memories
Torstein Tynning died on 18 November 2000, aged 68. Porsgrunns Dagblad printed the death notice and two obituaries in the days that followed.
Facsimiles from Porsgrunns Dagblad
From the newspapers when he died
The death notice:
«Our dear Torstein Tynning (b. 4.6.33) fell peacefully asleep with his nearest around him. TSS, 18 November 2000. You will be missed. Solveig. Tone, Signe, Gro. Tommy, Marius, Lillis. Christian, Elise, Syver, Lars and Sara. Siblings and the rest of the family. The funeral will be held at Eidanger church on Tuesday 28.11. at 13.00.»
Porsgrunns Dagblad, 21.11.2000.
Obituary by his childhood friend Andreas Aasland:
«Torstein Tynning died on 18 November after a long illness; he was 68 years old.
Tynning grew up on Valler farm, which he later took over and ran. He was also a trained agronomist.
Already in his childhood Tynning got a good feel for politics. His father was active in the Centre Party. The other members of the family had each chosen their own party, and often they each had their own opinion. The Conservative Party became Torstein's choice, and politics his great interest, one that lasted all his life.
As early as 1955 he was a member of the municipal council in Eidanger, later of the city council and the executive committee in Porsgrunn. At the same time he was a board member and later chairman of the Young Conservatives' national federation. In 1965 he was elected to the Storting from Telemark. He was then the youngest representative in the Storting. In the end it became five terms, or 20 years, as a member of parliament.
From the 1970s the Conservative Party had the wind in its sails. Tynning was then a central figure both in the organisation and in the Storting. He held a number of important positions, which he handled well, with his good political instinct. But it cost him time and strength, at the same time as the demands on him grew.
Criticism is part of a politician's life. Fair criticism he could take well. But slander was hard to bear. At the election in 1981 Tynning was number 2 on the Conservative list in Telemark. For the first time Telemark Conservatives got two representatives in the Storting. In the term that followed he had to withdraw for health reasons.
As a person he was open and sociable. At the same time he was in many ways introverted. He often carried adversity within, and it then became heavier. Most often he was an optimist, but well acquainted with the realities of life.
In his years as a pensioner he lived much in Spain, until he had a stroke and came home, bound to a wheelchair.
Torstein Tynning died peacefully, surrounded by his nearest. He was grateful because he had been allowed to live a useful life in which he had experienced much.
As one of his closest friends, since boyhood, I take my leave of a good friend.
Andreas Aasland»
Porsgrunns Dagblad, 21.11.2000.
Obituary by Jan Petersen, leader of the Conservative Party 1994–2004:
«Former member of parliament Torstein Tynning has passed away – 68 years old.
Torstein Tynning was born in 1932 in Eidanger. After completing agricultural college he was from 1952 a farmer at Valler Søndre in Eidanger. He became engaged in political work early, and already in 1956 he was chairman of Telemark Young Conservatives. In 1958 he became a member of the Young Conservatives' central board. After a period as deputy chairman, in the years 1963–65 he was chairman of the Young Conservatives. In parallel with his work in the Young Conservatives, Torstein Tynning also engaged in local politics, among other things as a member of Eidanger municipal council in the years 1959–64. After the municipal merger he was, in the period 1965–1971, a member of Porsgrunn municipal council and executive committee.
Torstein Tynning was elected to the Storting for the Conservative Party in Telemark in 1965, and would remain in the Storting until 1985. He very quickly made his mark in the Storting as one of the Conservatives' promising young representatives. As a farmer, Tynning joined the agriculture committee, but showed at once that he combined thorough expertise within his own committee field with a broad range of knowledge and interests. Torstein Tynning was one of those representatives who could be used across the whole political spectrum – and that was an ability the parliamentary leadership also knew how to make use of. In later terms Torstein Tynning was a member of the local government committee, of the later local government and environment committee, and of the foreign affairs committee. As a member of the local government committee he came to work a great deal on housing questions, and he therefore had the pleasure of being the Conservatives' foremost spokesman in a political field that stood at the very centre in the years when the «Conservative wave» really gathered speed.
From as early as 1969 Torstein Tynning was part of the leadership of the Conservative parliamentary group – first as a deputy to the group board and from 1977 as a member. For many years he held the important office of whip. As chairman of the Young Conservatives in the years 1963–65 he was an ex officio member of the Conservative central board, where he was also a member throughout the period 1973–1985. In 1977 he was chairman of the Conservative programme committee, which had the main responsibility for drawing up the party's programme ahead of the election victory in 1977.
Torstein Tynning will be remembered as one of the Conservatives' central politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. Those of us who had the pleasure of knowing him and working with him will perhaps above all remember him as «a happy boy» who with humour and commitment threw himself into the tasks and offices the party knew how to place upon him. I am convinced that Torstein Tynning had only friends in political life – both inside and outside the Conservative Party. There are many who today remember Torstein Tynning with sadness – and at the same time with thanks!
Jan Petersen»
Porsgrunns Dagblad, 24.11.2000.
The year of birth in the death notice (33) is a misprint. Both obituaries and the Storting's biography give 1932, and he was 68 years old.