Turi Widerøe
Turi Widerøe (born 23 November 1937) is a Norwegian aviator who was the world's first female commercial air pilot for a major airline. The daughter of aviator Viggo Widerøe (who founded the airline Widerøe), she was originally educated as a book designer. She later undertook pilot training, and, employed by Scandinavian Airlines System, became the first female pilot in a major airline in the Western world.
Turi Widerøe

KSAK:s tidning Flygrevyn · Public domain
- Name
- Turi Widerøe
- Born
- 23 November 1937
- Birthplace
- Oslo, Norway
- Known for
- Norway's first female air transport pilot
- Nationality
- Norway
- Occupation
- aircraft pilot · editor · journalist · illustrator
- Education
- Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry · University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway
- Languages
- Norwegian
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q1805950 · wikipedia · Turi Widerøe
In this article
Biography
Biography
After ending her flight career she worked for numerous cultural institutions such as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Gyldendal, Oslo Nye Teater and Riksteatret.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Turi Widerøe • Born — 23 November 1937 • Birthplace — Oslo, Norway • Relatives — Viggo Widerøe (father) Solveig Agnes Schrøder (mother) Rolf Widerøe (uncle) • Known for — Norway's first female air transport pilot
Personal life
Personal life
She was born in Oslo, the daughter of Viggo Widerøe (1904–2002) and Solveig Agnes Schrøder (1914–1989). Her father was a noted aviator who founded Widerøe's Flyveselskap A/S, a regional airline in Norway, in 1934. She was also a niece of noted accelerator physicist and engineer Rolf Widerøe.
Career
Career
In 1958 she graduated as a book designer from the Norwegian National Academy of Arts and Crafts, following a four-year education. In the same year she was awarded for her design of Solveig Christov's book Valgets brodd. She worked two years for the printing presses Grøndahl & Søn and Aksjetrykkeriet, and from 1960 to 1964 she was assistant editor for National Association of Norwegian Architects's magazine Byggekunst. She received her private pilot's license in 1962. After working in ore research for the mining company A/S Sydvaranger in Inner Troms, she acquired her commercial license in 1965. She flew Noorduyn Norseman and de Havilland Otter seaplanes and later Twin Otters on scheduled routes and mercy flights for Widerøe's Flyveselskap north of the Arctic Circle. In 1968, she was employed by SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System). After graduating from the company's Flight Academy in 1969, she was certified as a co-pilot on the Convair 440 Metropolitan, and became the first female pilot in a major airline in the western world. She also flew SAS' first jet aircraft, the Caravelle, and the DC-9 before she ended her flying career. In 1974 she wrote a 40th anniversary history of Widerøe's Flyveselskap, published as two articles in the Norwegian Airline Pilots Association's magazine Cockpit Forum. She had taken the initiative to Cockpit Forum ' s predecessor magazine Interno. In 1979, following the end of her flying career, she was given a fellowship in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She worked as a journalist and presenter there from 1980 to 1986, and from 1986 to 1988 she was an editor in Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, one of the largest publishing houses in Norway. She was information director in Norsk forbund for fjernundervisning for several years, and around 2000 she worked with public information for Oslo Nye Teater and Riksteatret. In 2006 she took a master's degree in history at the University of Tromsø. Her thesis, Is fly og skip ("Ice planes and ships"), deals with airborne and geophysical mapping of the Antarctic continent between 1929 and 1939.
Identity
Identity
Turi Widerøe is recorded with the occupation illustrator. Recorded as having studied at Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry and University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway. Widerøe studied at Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry and University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1937
Turi Widerøe was born on 23 November 1937.
Awards and legacy
Her first uniform is displayed in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1970, she was awarded the Harmon Aviatrix Trophy and the Amelia Earhart Medal by the Ninety-Nines. She received the FAI Paul Tissandier Diploma in Paris in 2005, on the 100th anniversary of the aviation organization. Widerøe is briefly referenced in U.S. aviation writer Robert Serling's 1971 novel She'll Never Get Off the Ground. SAS releases a short movie in December 2024 celebrating her career as the first female commercial pilot.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1805950: Turi Widerøe
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Turi Widerøe”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Turi Widerøe, revision 1366555081 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.1970s: Turi Widerøe takes the world by storm Scandinavian Traveler. Scandinavian Traveler - For the modern traveler from Scandinavian Airlines.
- 2.Giving, Trine Rom. Flyselskapene er kjønnsverstinger. E24 Næringsliv. 27 May 2007.
- 3.Larsen, Rolf L. Satellitt til undervisning. Aftenposten. 3. 13 April 1989.
- 4.Det samfunnsvitenskapelige fakultetet (SV-fakultetet). Bladet Tromsø. 23 January 2007.
- 5.She'll Never Get Off the Ground © 1971 Robert J. Serling
- 6.SAS - Scandinavian Airlines. Breaking Glass SAS. 2024-12-18.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
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