Karl Gustaf Westman (18 August 1876 – 24 January 1944) was a Swedish historian and political leader.

Biography

Westman attended

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 during ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1897, Licentiate of Philosophy in 1904 and a Ph.D. 1905. He was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of the History of Law in the

faculty of law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

at Uppsala University (1910–1941). In political office, he represented the Agrarian '' Bondeförbundet'', which was established in 1913. He was minister for education, culture and church matters (1914–1917). He served as foreign minister (1936), and justice minister (1936–1943). Although not the chairman of his party, Westman was without doubt his party's most influential cabinet member. As a justice minister, and as one of the cabinet members with a say in matters of foreign policy during World War II, Westman has been criticized for what some observers have perceived as exaggerated adaptation to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's expected victory in the war, and for a limited respect for the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...

to criticize foreign powers.

Personal life

Karl Gustaf Westman was the son of the postmaster Carl Johan Westman and Tonny (Andersson) Westman. He was the brother of the diplomat Karl Ivan Westman. He was married in 1935 to Margit Printz. Children: Ingun Margareta (born 1936), Sighild Margareta (born 1937) and Karl Joar (born 1939). Westman was buried on 2 February 1944 at Gamla kyrkogården in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the capi ...

.''Karl Gustaf Westman'' (Uppsala gamla kyrkogård)
/ref>

In popular culture

In the Swedish television movie ''Four days that shook Sweden - The Midsummer Crisis 1941'', from 1988, he is played by Swedish actor Allan Svensson.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Westman, Karl Gustaf 20th-century Swedish historians Swedish Ministers for Foreign Affairs Uppsala University alumni 1876 births 1944 deaths Swedish Ministers for Education Swedish Ministers for Culture Swedish Ministers for Justice People from Gothenburg Members of the Första kammaren Burials at Uppsala old cemetery Westman family Academic staff of Uppsala University Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala