August Teodor Palm (5 February 1849 – 14 March 1922) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

activist and a key person in introducing the then revolutionary

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

in Sweden.

Life

Early activism

The son of a school teacher near

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

, he was orphaned at the age of 10, after which he was trained to be a tailor. At the age of 18, he made an educational trip through

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, after which, in 1874, he settled as a tailor in

Haderslev Haderslev (; german: Hadersleben ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark with a population of 22,011 (1 January 2022).Northern Schleswig South Jutland County (Danish: ''Sønderjyllands Amt'') is a former county (Danish: ''amt'') on the south-central portion of the Jutland Peninsula in southern Denmark. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of Aaben ...

. Also in 1874 he married Johanna Larsson. During his travels in Germany, he learnt about socialist ideas, and in 1877 he was expelled from that country because of his socialist agitation. He then stayed in Storheddinge in Denmark until 1881, when he returned to his native Sweden. On 6 November of the same year, while in Malmö, Palm gave the first socialist speech ever in Sweden, and started on a political tour to

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Agitator

In March 1882, Palm started the newspaper ''Folkviljan'' (''Will of the People'') in Malmö, and acted as its editor until 1885, when it was discontinued. Palm moved to Stockholm and on 25 September 1885 began printing the newspaper ''Social-Demokraten'' (''The Social Democrat''), acting as its editor for its first year. From the fall of 1886,

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting cam ...

took over as editor-in-chief. The government sent him to prison for three months in 1889 on account of statements made in the socialist press. Palm's greatest contribution was as an agitator for

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

and socialist ideas, constantly touring around the country, often making speeches by the roadside - since he was barred from using lecture halls. Another of his messages, and perhaps the most important, was to expose the

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

discourse, with its claim to originate with "friends of the workers", as self-seeking and power-hungry careerism. Palm's constant argument was that

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

members were fully competent to look after their own interests.

Visit to the US

In 1900, August Palm was invited by the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n club of the

Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, in co-operation with similar clubs in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, to visit the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, as a means to attract more members to these clubs. The trip started on 1 September 1900 and is described in the Swedish book ''Ögonblicksbilder från en tripp till Amerika'' (''Snapshots from a Trip to America''), published in 1901.

Books by August Palm

*''Några drag ur mitt lif'' ("Some Excerpts from My Life"), 1899 *''Ögonblicksbilder från en tripp till Amerika'' ("Snapshots from a Trip to America"), 1901 *''Ur en agitators lif'' ("From the Life of an Agitator"), 1904

External links