Charles Lindley (1865–1957), born Carl Gustaf Lindgren, 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 ...

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and

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 ( ...

activist. Today, there is a small statue of Charles Lindley in

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 ...

Life

Born into a wealthy family, in 1881 Lindley became a merchant seaman working on English seagoing vessels. He became very active in the British

workers' 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 ...

, working closely with

Havelock Wilson Joseph Havelock Wilson (16 August 1859 – 16 April 1929), commonly known as Havelock Wilson or J. Havelock Wilson, was a British trade union leader, Liberal Party politician, and campaigner for the rights of merchant seamen. Early life He ...

. It was from his British comrades that he received his English-sounding nickname "Charles" (or "Charlie"), which he kept upon his return to Sweden. Lindley returned to Sweden in 1895, founded the Swedish Transport Workers' Union in 1897 and co-founded the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

. He continued to work closely with Wilson, but unlike his mentor, he increasingly identified as a socialist. In 1900, Lindley married the Swedish

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Elin Jonsson, who was a close friend of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

Alexandra Kollontay Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (russian: Алекса́ндра Миха́йловна Коллонта́й, née Domontovich, Домонто́вич; – 9 March 1952) was a Russian revolutionary, politician, diplomat and Marxist the ...

. In 1933, Lindley was elected as President of the

, and served in that position until 1946.General Secretaries and Presidents of the ITF 1896-2010
,

References

1865 births 1957 deaths Swedish Social Democratic Party Swedish sailors Swedish memoirists Swedish trade unionists Members of the Första kammaren {{shipping-bio-stub