In September 1973 the army Commander in Chief, General Augusto Pinochet, led a military coup which ousted Salvador Allende in Chile, who in 1970 became the first Marxist in history to be elected President of a country by popular vote. As a consequence of the coup Nolvia Dominguez Skjetne, who had been active in left wing politics, was fired from her job, and her husband, who was a member of the workers’ union, was executed.
In 1980 Nolvia was arrested by the Chilean intelligence service. Later she suffered health consequences due to this period of detention. Soon afterwards she decided to flee Chile with her 10-year-old son to Norway, where she was granted refugee status in November 1980. While in Norway she decided to fight against the military and defend human rights in Chile, and she also continued to support her party, the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR).
In the early part of the decade, while many asylum seekers were fleeing Chile, Nolvia became one of the leaders of the Associacion de exilados latinoamericanos en Oslo (Association of Latin American Exiles in Oslo). Her contributions included assisting a Norwegian lawyer by providing useful information about the Chilean political situation. During this period she also founded the Norwegian branch of the Committee for Defending People’s Rights (CODEPU).
Before long, Nolvia became active in Norwegian politics. She joined the Sosialistisk Venstreparti, the Norwegian Socialist Party, and in 1990 she became the first female immigrant to be elected at the City Council in Oslo. Focusing her attention on cultural matters, she also concerned herself with immigration issues, while also acting as a role model for other refugees and immigrants in Norway.
Although mostly engaged in Norwegian politics, Nolvia never forgot Chile, and lobbied for General Pinochet’s extradition and trial. Nolvia married a Norwegian, and today feels at home in both cultures. Her son, a successful break-dancer, moved to Denmark to pursue his career, while Nolvia herself founded and manages her own kindergarten. She served as a member for the City Council until last year, when the pressures of a family illness forced her to give up her political activities for a while – but this energetic, dedicated woman has still somehow found the time to open and manage a second day care center. Truly Chile’s loss has been Norway’s gain!
UNHCR Stockholm |
| Nolvia Skjetne and her grand child in Norway. |
