Halvdan Skard (born 1 December 1939) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Oslo as a son of Åse Gruda Skard and Sigmund Skard, and through Åse the grandson of Halvdan Koht and Karen Grude Koht. He has two sisters Torild Skard and Målfrid Grude Flekkøy, who are twins, and himself has a twin brother Åsmund. He grew up in Trondheim, but when World War II reached Norway in 1940 the family fled to the United States via Sweden, the Soviet Union and Japan, returning in 1945. He later finished his secondary education at Oslo Cathedral School. He studied at the University of Wisconsin, Madison from 1962 to 1963 and in Paris from 1969 to 1970. He graduated with the cand.philol. degree from the University of Oslo in 1972.