Axel Alarik Pehrsson-Bramstorp (born Axel Alarik Pehrsson; 19 August 1883 – 19 February 1954) was a Swedish politician and was

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...

for a few months during 1936. As a parliamentarian he was known as Axel Pehrsson in Bramstorp, or just Bramstorp for short. In 1937 he officially added the name of his farm to his family name.

Early life

Axel Pehrsson was a member of a farming family in Öja (now in Ystad Municipality) in

Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skån ...

. His father's death made it impossible for him to continue his schooling. After the age of 14, he later completed some adult education courses in a '' folkhögskola'' (the equivalent of community college). His parents' farm was of considerable size. At the time of his marriage he bought Bramstorp farm in the same parish and later took over the parental farm and bought several others as well.

Political career

Pehrsson was active in local and regional politics, and in 1918 became a Member of the Second Chamber of the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

, representing the Liberal Party, but he was not re-elected in 1921. He switched to the Agrarian Party ''

Bondeförbundet The Centre Party ( sv, Centerpartiet ; C) is a liberal political party in Sweden, founded in 1913. The party's major issues are the national economy, the environment, political decentralisation and social integration. It is represented in all ...

'' (the "Farmers' League") and was elected a Member of the Second Chamber in 1929, where he served until 1949. He was chairman of the party from 1934 to 1949. After the Social Democratic cabinet of

Per Albin Hansson Per Albin Hansson (28 October 1885 – 6 October 1946) was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-liv ...

was overthrown by a parliamentary majority in spring 1936, Pehrsson got the mandate of King

Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...

to form a non-socialist coalition government. This turned out to be impossible and Pehrsson briefly headed a one-party cabinet as prime minister from 19 June to 28 September 1936. Since this cabinet was only in office during the summer it was called "The Holiday Government". He appointed himself Minister of Agriculture; after the elections to the Second Chamber in September he resigned as Prime Minister but remained as Minister of Agriculture in the new Hansson cabinet, which was a coalition of Social Democrats and the Agrarian Party. He continued in the same cabinet position in the national coalition cabinet which was formed under Hansson's prime ministership at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1939 and sat until the end of the war in 1945.

Later activities

After the resignation of the war-time coalition cabinet, Pehrsson-Bramstorp held various important positions in agricultural organisations, while remaining chairman of his party and a member of parliament, until illness forced him to retire in 1949. He was awarded a knighthood of the

Order of the Seraphim The Royal Order of the Seraphim ( sv, Kungliga Serafimerorden; ''Seraphim'' being a category of angels) is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the P ...

the same year, and lived the rest of his life on his farm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pehrsson-Bramstorp, Axel 1883 births 1954 deaths Members of the Andra kammaren Prime Ministers of Sweden Members of the Riksdag from the Centre Party (Sweden) Swedish Ministers for Agriculture Leaders of political parties in Sweden Great Depression in Sweden People from Ystad