Jørna Winther

The Most Honorable Jørna Winther
Jørna Winther, 1948
First Minister of Cybria
In office 1962–1980
Preceded by	Leif Haugaard
Succeeded by	Bernhard Duus
Member of the Cybrian State Parliament
In office 1962–1980
Constituency	Eldenvard County
Personal details
Born	Siv Jørna Mogensen 5 January 1917 Grafholmen, Norvia, Kingdom of Delkora
Died	10 October 2017(2017-10-10) (aged 100) Eldenvard, Cybria, Kingdom of Delkora
Political party	National Labor
Occupation	Actress singer dancer politician

Jørna Winther (born Siv Jørna Mogensen, 5 January 1917 – 10 October 2017) was a Delkoran actress, singer, dancer, and politician. Her acting career spanned more than seven decades, and made her one of Delkora's most successful film stars, with notable successes such as Janne Belinda (1948), Sceneskræk (1950), Lucy Gylling (1960), and Tre fyre ved navn Mads (1962).

Having grown politically active during the 1950s depression, Winther began a career in politics, making her a prominent example of venstjerne. She was elected First Minister of Cybria in 1962, leading the state's National Labor, and was re-elected in 1966, 1968, 1972, and 1976. Her term was dominated by social policy, and she was known for implementing far-reaching progressive legislation, particularly with regards to affirmative action and immigration.

She is considered by historians to be one of Cybria's greatest first ministers, and together with Bjørn Olsen is credited with cementing the state's reputation as a social and economic laboratory.

Early life

She was born Siv Jørna Mogensen on 5 January 1917 in southern Norvia. She was the only child of a food company worker and a doctor's stenographer. Her parents divorced in 1921, with her father dying unexpectedly the next year, and she was raised by foster parents.

She later recalled that her childhood was unhappy due to the chaotic family situation, and had few good memories. She said the only advantage of being raised in Norvia was learning to speak French and Romansch from an early age.

She dropped out of secondary school in 1935 and moved to Cybria, taking odd jobs as a manicurist and switchboard operator. Her first marriage, around this time, provided her with her professional name "Jørna Winther".

Acting career

Winther, photographed for Skærmland in 1943

Winther entered the entertainment industry. She started finding small parts in films, began a singing career on radio, and worked as a dancer and choreographer. Her career developed slowly, and it would be a decade before she attracted critical notice. She began collaborating with producer and screenwriter Olga Pilgaard, and credited her for her ascent to stardom.

Winther's breakthrough role was as a deaf-mute rape victim in Janne Belinda (1948). She prepared for the role for over six months, learning sign language. The film was a great commercial and critical success, and earned her an award for best actress. She delivered a brief and jocular acceptance speech, stating, "I accept this, very gratefully, for keeping my mouth shut once. I think I'll do it again."

Now a top-billed star, Winther began to shift focus towards comedies, expressing a desire to do no more "weepy" roles. One of her first roles in this regard was the comedy thriller Sceneskræk (1950), in which her serene performance as an aspiring actress helping a colleague avoid being framed for murder brought a more light-hearted tone to the film.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Winther was one of Delkora's most popular actresses, sharing the distinction with Brynhild Svendsen. The two were good friends, and worked together on several films. Their public images were very different: Svendsen earned fame as a sex symbol for her portrayals of brash and sharp-tongued characters, while Winther specialised in more "tomboyish" roles that contrasted her appearance with her soft-spoken personality.

Winther grew interested in politics during the 1950s depression and subsequent civil unrest. She campaigned for National Labor in the 1956 and 1959 federal elections, making her a prominent example of venstjerne.

She supported the New Kingdom program and later took roles in comedies that subtly promoted it. Two of her best-known roles in this vein were in Lucy Gylling (1960), as a union organiser whose "posh" personality and appearance initially causes mistrust before she wins over the workers she's sent to assist, and Tre fyre ved navn Mads (1962), as an Air Delkora flight attendant with a complicated love life. Roles such as these helped give her a champagne socialist public image.

Increasing involvement in politics, combined with a frustration at the roles she was offered, led her to put her acting career on hold after Tre fyre ved navn Mads. During that time, she focused on politics, and painting in her spare time.

She was courted by both National Labor and the Liberals for office in Cybria, after Svendsen had been elected First Minister of Banderhus as a Liberal, and chose to join the former. She commented, "Back when Löfgren was in charge, I seriously considered I'd have a better chance as a socialist with the Liberals, but that ended when Elvensar took the reins."

First Minister of Cybria

Winther campaigning in 1962

Winther won a primary election and subsequently led Cybrian National Labor into the 1962 state election, which she won handily. The theme of her campaign was "to return Cybria to the vanguard of the New Kingdom". During the campaign, she controversially dismissed Marni Evensen and Leif Haugaard as "dwarves in the shadow of a giant"; Haugaard was especially stung by the remark. She won the election handily.

She was re-elected in 1966 (to a term shortened by the synchronisation of Delkoran state elections), 1968, 1972, and 1976. Her five back-to-back single-party majorities remain an unequaled record for Delkoran state elections.

Where Bjørn Olsen's government was dominated by a struggle against economic inequality, Winther's term as first minister was dominated by social policy. It was a time of economic growth, in which Cybria benefited strongly from the New Kingdom program, and Winther used the opportunity to introduce wide-ranging progressive policies. She oversaw an expansion of public higher education, large-scale public works projects, and doubled the size of Delkora's state parks and protected areas. She increased social spending and expanded the range of welfare payments provided by the state.

Reservation

The best-known causes associated with Winther were multiculturalism and affirmative action. She established a state ministry for immigration and ethnic relations, overhauled Cybria's immigration regulations, and promoted migration to the state. She openly declared, "My government's intention is to increase Cybria's ethnic diversity, and welcome all who choose to make Cybria their home into our great family." During her tenure, Cybria's immigrant population increased, making it the largest source of immigration among Delkoran states.

To further accommodate minorities, her government encouraged municipalities to provide minority language services, and strengthened Cybria Public Broadcasting's mandate for minority language services.

Winther was distressed at Cybria's history of racism towards Travellers, describing it as a "disgraceful blot" on the state, and feared the risk of auto-segregation without government intervention, which was vindicated by the 1968 protests. She established a state commission on the protests, whose report starkly warned of the dangers of lack of economic opportunity, media representation, and patterns of segregation in housing. She subsequently introduced Delkora's most far-reaching affirmative action programs, which came to be known as the reservation policy.

The best-known aspect of reservation was a quota system: 70% of available places at public universities and public sector jobs were reserved for disadvantaged populations, making it Delkora's strongest affirmative action policy. Reservation was allocated based on disadvantages by ethnicity, class, sex, and social background, with an elaborate calculation method to avoid benefits being captured by the elite of the disadvantaged groups. Other facets included statewide desegregation busing and an overhaul of housing policies to break patterns of auto-segregation.

National Labor also implemented the practice of alternating men and women on electoral lists and an interlocking system of allocation to increase ethnic minority participation and representation in the Cybrian Parliament and the Constitutional Court of Cybria.

Reservation had a massive impact on Cybrian public life. In politics, the strict enforcement of reservation gave rise to a right-wing splinter, the Party of Ordinary Delkorans, which sought to capitalise on white backlash to reservation, desegregation busing, and pro-immigration policies. The party's main impact was vote splitting with the Conservative Party, weakening the Cybrian right and strengthening the left. National Labor itself won overwhelming and loyal support among Cybria's minorities, renewing its domination of Cybrian politics with a support base that resembled the federal New Kingdom coalition.

Arts and culture

Winther championed cultural policy and sought to make Cybria the centre of Delkoran popular culture. She established a state ministry for the arts, greatly increased government spending on the arts, and oversaw the construction of numerous cultural facilities throughout Cybria. She also appointed a new, younger leadership at Cybria Public Broadcasting, which helped make it a leader in experimentation and innovation within Delkoran public broadcasting.

Winther enjoyed two advantages in cultural policy: a close relationship with culture minister Chantal Beaumont, and Delkora's membership of the Common Sphere. Winther and Beaumont shared similar approaches to cultural policy, and while Beaumont's staunch unilingualism grated on other foreign ministers and politicians, Winther's fluent French made it a non-issue.

Although Winther had taken part in the campaign for the 1965 referendum that approved Delkora's entry into the Common Sphere, she did so more out of loyalty to National Labor than serious commitment. However, in office, she grew to appreciate the Common Sphere as a forum for like-minded governments to cooperate on issues, and took advantage of it to promote Cybria on the international stage. Cybria grew into a major stopping point for foreign entertainers touring Delkora, particularly those from Gylias, Kirisaki, and Akashi.

Winther generally avoided commenting on pop culture directly, and said in private that she was "too old to be anything but out of touch". In 1975, she sent an official telegram to The Dalby Sisters congratulating them on their recent success, writing, "You have made Cybria proud."

Constitutional affairs

Winther was a republican, but she recognised that the popularity of Charlotte III made the issue less important to Delkorans. "The public seems to be satisfied with the queen," she said in 1968, "therefore our energies should be saved for when she leaves the throne."

She called a successful referendum in 1969 to reform Cybria's state monarchy, turning the jarl into an appointed office with a fixed-length term. She then used the jarldom to appoint active and notable Cybrians, honouring their public service or artistic achievements.

Leadership style

Winther arriving at her office, 1966

Even among her venstjerne colleagues, Winther was an unconventional first minister, and she epitomised the figure of the "quiet radical" (stille radicale). While she had a glamorous, champagne socialist image, she was also known for her high-pitched, squeaky voice, and had a soft-spoken personality. Gylian science fiction writer Virginia Gerstenfeld, who met Winther during her service in the Gylian Senate, remarked that Winther turned the phenomenon of the "media politician" in her favour:

"On television, Jørna used the smooth and reassuring tone of a dear old aunt to project a message that was as radical as they come. There was a complete discontinuity between her manner and body language, on the one hand, and her far-left message on the other. Above all, it struck me that she was one of the first to ingeniously exploit the fact that the TV audience wouldn't be listening too closely, if at all, to what she was saying."

Winther was always fastidiously dressed in public, and sometimes wore long necklaces with various good luck charms attached. This led Geirbjørn Feldengaard to quip, "Sometimes it's very easy to forget Jørna is National Labor."

However, this approach had a strategic element: by playing up her champagne socialist reputation and "looking and sounding nothing like a National Labor politician", she was able to hold together disparate constituencies of radicals that approved of her far-reaching policies, economically secure "cosmopolitan" middle class voters pleased with Cybria's conditions, and rural voters for whom she represented stability.

She was nicknamed "the quiet girl" due to her soft-spoken manner and unusually high voice. It was a nickname she embraced; when confronted with a difficult issue, she was fond of remarking, "Don't underestimate the determination of a quiet girl."

She was fluent in French, Romansch, Italian, and English, and when addressing minority audiences she always included at least a few phrases in their respective language. While campaigning on Jårnland in 1968, she played on her surname for Schottian voters, remarking, "Winther will win there."

Winther's "quiet radical" approach was crucial to her success as first minister. Although her government introduced such theoretically divisive policies as reservation, desegregation busing, and openly admitted it sought to diversify Cybria, her relaxed and confident manner in public reassured voters that Cybria was setting an example for Delkora. The contrast between her sunny subtlety and the Party of Ordinary Delkorans' harsh attacks added to the public's disgust with the right-wing.

Winther saw herself as mainly an inspiring figurehead for the government, and behind the scenes she concentrated on maintaining unity within the cabinet and the state party. Having been an entertainer before politics, she freely admitted when she lacked specific knowledge on a particular matter, and would ask her staff what the socialists were doing. She once quipped that her role was to "shove reservation down Cybria's throat with a smile until it asks for second helpings."

Throughout her tenure, she was consistently one of Delkora's most popular first ministers. Bendte Frølund marveled at Winther's ability to "push such radical policies and make Cybria like it". Winther's term cemented Cybria's status as a National Labor stronghold, and during federal elections she urged voters to turn out in large numbers to re-elect National Labor, contributing to lopsided victory margins in the state.

Winther's tenure marked the zenith of Cybrian National Labor, which became the state's largest party. This was because her left-wing policies attracted support and inspired entryism by members of other left parties to push National Labor even further to the left. This meant that the Liberals, Greens, and Communists were at a low ebb in state elections during the 1960s and 1970s, as much of their electorate and membership was instead absorbed by National Labor.

Retirement

Winther had contemplated retiring in 1976, reasoning that 14 years in office was sufficient, but the state party convinced her to stay on for one more term after National Labor had lost its federal majority the previous year. She duly led the party to a successful re-election, which became her last hurrah.

She announced her retirement ahead of the 1980 state election. In her absence, National Labor suffered a drop in support which, combined with a consolidation of the right, produced a Conservative minority government led by Bernhard Duus. National Labor also experienced a drop in membership, as without Winther's rallying figure, the young radicals and left-wing voters left the party to return to the Liberals, Greens, and Communists, ending the entryist strategy that had swollen the party ranks.

Later life

Winther in 1981

After leaving politics, Winther returned home, where she focused on painting and entertaining friends and family. An attempt to resume acting saw her accept several guest roles, but was ultimately scuppered by poor offers, which she described as "murderers, old ladies that were senile – they were awful. The weirdest kind of writing."

In retirement, she became quite reclusive, making few public appearances. This was partly due to health problems, particularly diabetes and arthritis. In 1982, she was interviewed for the DBS documentary series A New Kingdom (1983).

She celebrated her 100th birthday on 5 January 2017, an occasion marked by tributes from the federal and state government and leading artistic figures.

Death

Winther died at her home in Eldenvard on 10 October 2017, of natural causes.

Private life

Winther was married five times, and had two children: Melinda (b. 1941) and Krimhild (b. 1947). She took her first husband's surname "Winther", and used it professionally for the rest of her life. She joked that her marriages broke up due to political differences or lifestyle differences.

Winther was described by those who knew her as very religious. She was a practitioner of Vallyar with a strong interest in seiðr and Tennaiite and Miranian spiritual practices. She was a member of the Vallyar Order, and read extensively on mysticism.

It was her religious belief that made her an equally strong advocate of a secular state — she believed religion was a private matter and felt that it was "cheapened" and "vulgarised" by being appropriated for government. She remarked, "To take the oath of office and say 'May the Æsir help me' is an insult to the Æsir — surely they have better things to do than something so trifling?".

Legacy

Winther is considered one of Cybria's best first ministers, and a foremost example of venstjerne. Her tenure cemented Cybria's reputation as being at the forefront of Delkoran progressive policies, and demonstrated states' ability to set the pace and standard of social policy. She played a key role in making Cybria one of Delkora's most diverse states ethnically, one of the most egalitarian economically, and a centre of Delkoran popular culture.

Winther's success at defeating the right-wing backlash to her policies had political repercussions: it strengthened the radical faction of the New Kingdom and venstjerne, and it inspired a trend of "Cybria-bashing" on the right-wing, who now identified Cybria and Winther specifically with everything they found anathema — interventionist social policy, concerted action to combat discrimination and injustice, and criticism and challenges of traditional hierarchies.

Winther remains revered within Cybrian National Labor as its most successful leader. Some historians have likened her approach to a popular front, since her leadership saw National Labor become the largest party in the state by absorbing much of the membership of the Liberals, Greens, and Communists. The big tent aspect of the party under Winther remains a strong topic of debate within Cybrian National Labor, pitting those who view it as a historical anomaly and potentially diluting the party against those who advocate its reconstruction as an ideal, emphasising left unity.