Erik Gustaf Bernhard Boström (11 February 1842 – 21 February 1907) was a Swedish landowner and politician who was a member of the Swedish Parliament (1876–1907) and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Sweden of the 19th century. He served twice, first from 1891 to 1900 and then again from 1902 to 1905. He was also known as E.G. Boström or E. Gust. Boström. In 1871, he married Carolina "Lina" Almqvist, with whom he had six daughters and one son. Brother of County Governor Filip Boström and nephew of the philosopher Christopher Jacob Boström. Boström's governmental policy was marked by its

pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. ...

. Over time, Boström gained a good reputation as being a rallying national icon despite being the first prime minister to have neither an academic education nor experience with upper governmental positions. He was also quite popular with King

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norwe ...

. Boström's eventual downfall was caused by his refusal to budge on the issue of Norway.

Childhood and career

Erik Gustaf Boström was born in Stockholm, the son of Eric Samuel Boström,

chief judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, ...

of the district court and his wife Elisabet Gustava Fredenheim. The family was one branch of the

Laestadius Lars Levi Laestadius (; 10 January 1800 – 21 February 1861) was a Swedish Sami pastor and administrator of the Swedish state Lutheran church in Lapland who founded the Laestadian pietist revival movement to help his largely Sami congregations, ...

family of priests from

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administ ...

. His paternal grandfather Christopher Laestander, a townsman and ship carpenter in the city of Piteå, took the surname Boström. He was tutored by Kristian Claëson, whose first cousin served as the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs under Boström in 1898. In 1854, he became a student at the Uppsala Cathedral School, which was also the year his father died. It is worth noting that five of his fellow cabinet members during his first term attended the same school: Axel Rappe, Edvard von Krusenstjerna, Ludvig Annerstedt, Gustaf Gilljam and Lars Åkerhielm. In 1861, he transferred to

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance durin ...

, where he studied until 1863 when his mother died and he had to take over her manor at Östanå Castle. As a youth he availed himself of the opportunity to pay to avoid conscription, which was last possible in 1872. Boström was quite successful as a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

and he started to get involved in local politics. In January 1870, he became a member of the

executive committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the Agricultural Society of Stockholm County and of the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stoc ...

, where he also served as vice-chairperson and chairperson for many years. In 1871, he married Carolina Almqvist, daughter of Justice Councillor and

Minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

Ludvig Almqvist. In 1875, he was elected to the lower house of

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to represent the

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of Södra Roslagen. In parliament, he joined the

Lantmanna Party Lantmanna Party ( sv, Lantmannapartiet, , Party of the Rural People) was a political party in Sweden during the late 19th century, essentially a faction in the parliament which existed from 1867 to 1912 (though split in two 1888-1895). The Lantman ...

and quickly positioned himself as a leading

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...

, supporting

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

protection, in the Standing Committees of Ways and Means and of

Banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. In addition, he was interested in a strong defence, which he considered to have manifested itself as a strong marine defence, and a strong opposition to the abolition of the Swedish allotment system.

Chancellor of the Swedish Universities 1905–1907

After he retired from his position as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, Boström became the Chancellor of the Swedish Universities, where he tried unsuccessfully to prevent

Bengt Lidforss Bengt Lidforss (15 September 186823 September 1913) was a prominent Swedish socialist, antisemite, and an accomplished natural scientist and writer. Biography Lidforss was born in Lund, Sweden, and died there. He studied botany and biology at ...

from continuing on as

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Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

from his position as chancellor, although he quickly retracted it. Boström continued to be interested in politics and in a letter that he wrote to his dear old friend Carl Herslow on 4 June, he stated that it would be extremely desirable for the recently retired government to have been able to stay on. He also said in a letter that

Karl Staaff Karl Albert Staaff (21 January 1860 – 4 October 1915) was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party (1907–1915) and served twice as Prime Minister of Sweden (1905–1906 and 1911–1914). Staaf ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

could take of

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better than a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

government could and that Staaff occasionally appeared to possess the ability to accomplish a lot, although he chose a different way. Boström died in his home in Stockholm on 21 February 1907. A few days later, the bells pealed out over Stockholm to commemorate the former Prime Minister.

Family

*One brother, County Governor of

Södermanland County Södermanland County ( sv, Södermanlands län) is a county or '' län'' on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is ...

Filip Boström. *Three sisters, including

Ebba Boström Ebba Boström (1844–1902) was a Swedish nurse and a philanthropist. She established a philanthropic centre in Uppsala which served the poor and children. Early life and education Boström was born in Östanå manor in Roslagen on 5 September ...

*Six daughters: Hedvig, Carolina Elisabeth, Sofia Lovisa, Clara Gustafva, Ingeborg Maria and Eva Margareta. *One son: Chamberlain Gustaf Samuel Boström. *Married to Carolina Almqvist, daughter of Councillor of Justice and

Ludvig Almqvist.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bostrom, Erik Gustaf 1842 births 1907 deaths Politicians from Stockholm Members of the Andra kammaren Prime Ministers of Sweden Swedish Ministers for Finance Uppsala University alumni 19th-century Swedish politicians