Who was Tore?
He was born on the island of Osterøy in Norway in 1990, and was a political prodigy. He was a passionate speaker and activist, concerned and involved with social and political issues both at home and abroad.
At 16, he was already one of the leaders of the ruling Labour Party’s youth wing, and he was one of the founding members of the Social Democratic Network of European Youth. Two years later, in 2009, whilst studying for a BA in Politics at
Bergen University, he led the Labour Youth League in Horđaland County and was selected as a candidate for his regional parliament.
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In 2011, only a few hours after debating North-South relations the former Norwegian prime minister and Director of the World Health Organisation, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Tore was tragically killed, while protecting others from the gunman, in the massacre at Utøya which killed 69 young activists.
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After Tore's death, Prime Minister, now NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, gave a special mention to Tore in a memorial service for victims of the massacre, marking him out as one of Norway’s most promising and talented young politicians.
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In Tore’s short life he played a part in national with international politics far beyond his years, and he - and his passion about third-world development and democratic awareness - deserves to be remembered, and to have an alternative channel through which he can make an impact.
We hope to give his ideas a voice, and to enact the life-changing vision he has left behind.
“Tore Eikeland was one of our most talented young politicians. I remember him being met with acclaim by the whole Labour national congress when he gave a stirring speech...
Now he is dead. Gone forever. It is incomprehensible”
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg – Memorial address for the Victims of the 2011 Norway attack
Tore firmly believed that any form of economic change must start with education from an early age to change cemented political viewpoints; that instilling democratic principles in young people would foster a new atmosphere of fair, free and thoughtful decision-making, and an attitude of questioning which methods are best. He is widely remembered in Norway, yet we want to ensure that his vision and ideals also gain a form of concrete memorialization as well.
