She died on the night of Friday at Ullevål hospital after a short illness, the family told news. Marit Christensen was a journalist, presenter and author, but is best known as the first female Moscow correspondent for news. Christensen started at news in 1977 after studying journalism. She worked with news and politics, before in 1984 she took over from Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld and became news’s Moscow correspondent. She was in the then Soviet Union until 1989, but the nickname “Moskva-Marit” stuck. – This is a very sad message to receive. I remember her as a musical lady and someone who was fantastically good at Russian, says former correspondent Steinfeld to news. Marit Christensen spent five years as a correspondent in Moscow. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VG She has also written four books, and read several audio books. In 2013 she wrote the book “Mora”, a controversial portrait of Anders Behring Breivik’s mother, Wenche. Used Russian every day Christensen grew up on Kampen og Ullern in Oslo. She danced ballet, went ice-skating, played the piano and sang in the news girls’ choir. She actually entered medical school, but changed her mind and chose instead to study Russian at the University of Oslo. – It was a window into a completely different world. A value that I wanted to find out more about, Christensen told VG. Since then she has followed Russia, and said in a portrait interview in VG in March that she spoke Russian, read Russian newspapers and watched Russian TV every day. – It’s not okay to get old and sick In recent years, Christensen has struggled with his heart. She has had two heart attacks, and the last one developed into heart failure. – It is not okay to get old and sick. Old is good enough, but not sick at the same time. I don’t recommend that to anyone, she told VG. In the last 20 years, Christensen has been plagued with many illnesses. In 2010 she had slimming surgery, and lost 90 kilos in weight.
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