Per Axel Ahlmark (15 January 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Swedish politician and writer. He was the leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1975 to 1978, and

Minister for Employment , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

in the Swedish government from 1976 to 1978. He also served as a member of the Swedish parliament from 1967 to 1978.

Early life and education

Ahlmark was born in

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 ...

, Sweden, as the son of the professor in medicine Axel Ahlmark and the dentist Gunvor Berglund. He completed upper secondary education at Södra Latin in Stockholm and earned a BA in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

in 1964.

Political career

Ahlmark joined the

Liberal Youth of Sweden The Liberal Youth of Sweden ( sv, Liberala ungdomsförbundet, LUF) is the youth wing of the Swedish Liberals. The Liberal Youth of Sweden has a long tradition of international cooperation and is a full member of the International Federation of ...

in 1960 and was elected chairman of the organization the same year. He served as chairman of the Liberal Youth until 1962 and as a member of the board of the Liberal People's Party from 1960 to 1978. He was elected a member of the upper house of the Swedish parliament from 1967 to 1969 (representing the constituency of

Örebro County Örebro County ( sv, Örebro län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hilly n ...

) and as a member of the lower house from 1969 to 1970 (representing the constituency of Stockholm Municipality). Following the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

reform in Sweden in 1970–1971, Ahlmark served as a member of the unicameral parliament until 1978. He also served as a member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

from 1971 to 1976, and as deputy chairman of the Martin Luther King Fund from 1968 to 1973. On 7 November 1975, Ahlmark succeeded Gunnar Helén as leader of the Liberal People's Party. from 1975 to 1978. From 1976 to 1978, in the first non-socialist government in Sweden in forty years, Ahlmark served as

and

. On 7 March 1978, Ahlmark retired from party politics due to personal reasons. From 1978 to 1981 he served as chairman of the board of the

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute ( sv, Svenska Filminstitutet) was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the ''Filmhuset'' building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm. The building, comp ...

Writings and political views

Ahlmark published several political books and many hundreds of articles about politics, literature and international conflicts. During the 1980s he published three books of poetry, one novel and two books of essays. He was a columnist for ''

Expressen ''Expressen'' (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden, the other being '' Aftonbladet''. ''Expressen'' was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or "''Expressen'' to your rescue". ...

'', then the largest daily newspaper in

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, ...

, from 1961 to 1995. From 1997 to 2018 he was a columnist for ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ''Da ...

'', the largest Swedish morning paper, and a contributor to ''

Göteborgs-Posten ''Göteborgs-Posten'' (lit. "The Gothenburg Post"), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden. History and profile ''Göteborgs-Posten'' was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1 ...

''. In his writings he accuses the political left in Sweden of being uncritical towards the totalitarian communist regimes especially after 1968. He was a strong supporter of the state of Israel. From 1970 to 1997 he served as deputy chairman of the Sweden–Israel Friendship Association. He co-founded the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism in 1983 and served as its deputy chairman until 1995. In 1997 he founded the Sweden–Taiwan Friendship Association. Ahlmark served as an advisor to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity since 1987, and was a member of board of the

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

-based NGO

UN Watch UN Watch is a Geneva-based non-governmental organization whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of United Nations Charter, its own Charter". It is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Statu ...

since 1993. In 1994, Ahlmark published the widely debated book ''Vänstern och tyranniet'' ("Tyranny and the Left"), which is the major work on Swedish

fellow traveller The term ''fellow traveller'' (also ''fellow traveler'') identifies a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that o ...

s and political pilgrims during the last thirty years. This book triggered one of the most heated discussions in recent decades in Sweden about freedom and its enemies. His next work, ''Det öppna såret'' ("The Open Sore"), makes a summary of new research regarding democracy and dictatorship respectively in terms of war,

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

/ mass murder, and

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

. His last book in the same field was ''Det är demokratin, dumbom!'' ("It's the Democracy, Stupid!"), published in 2004. Ahlmark supported the U.S.-led

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, and was extremely critical of

Hans Blix Hans Martin Blix (; born 28 June 1928) is a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party. He was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (1978–1979) and later became the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. As suc ...

(who is also a prominent member of the Swedish Liberal People's Party and served as Ahlmark's deputy chairman in the Liberal Youth of Sweden). In an article in ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'', Ahlmark described Blix as politically "weak and easily fooled" and a "wimp". In February 2006, Ahlmark wrote in the Wall Street Journal that he had officially nominated former U.S. undersecretary of state John Bolton and American investigative reporter Kenneth R. Timmerman for the Nobel Peace Prize. Calling them "the good guys" for having exposed Iran's nuclear weapons program and worked to curtail it, he again criticized his former deputy Hans Blix and the IAEA for having been "duped for 18 years" by Iran.

The Per Ahlmark Foundation

On account of Ahlmark's 70th birthday in 2009, a new foundation called ''The Per Ahlmark Foundation'' was established in October 2008 by the Jewish assembly in Stockholm. The stated purpose of the foundation is to "promote scientific research and education in

, the

history of ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual his ...

and

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...

, as well as in economics, all with particular focus on issues concerning democracy and human rights". The foundation is chaired by the Swedish businessman Robert Weil and honorary chairman is the rabbi

Michael Melchior Michael Melchior ( he, מיכאל מלכיאור; born January 31, 1954) is a Jewish leader, Orthodox rabbi, thinker, and activist. He is a former Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a former ...

Personal life

Ahlmark was first married to the journalist Lillemor Melsted in 1965. From 1978 to 1981 he was married to the actress

Bibi Andersson Berit Elisabet Andersson (11 November 1935 – 14 April 2019), known professionally as Bibi Andersson (), was a Swedish actress who was best known for her frequent collaborations with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. Early life and career Ander ...

. Ahlmark died on 8 June 2018 at the age of 79.

Honors and awards

* Defender of Jerusalem Award, Jabotinsky Foundation, 1986 (co-recipients:

Luis Alberto Monge Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez (December 29, 1925 – November 29, 2016) was the President of Costa Rica from 1982 to 1986. He also served as Costa Rica's first Ambassador to Israel from 1963 until 1966. Biography Early and personal life Monge ...

, Eliahu Essas) *

Honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

, 1992 * Dialogue Award,

Norwegian Jews The history of Jews in Norway dates back to the 1400s. Although there were very likely Jewish merchants, sailors and others who entered Norway during the Middle Ages, no efforts were made to establish a Jewish community. Through the early mod ...

, 1996 * Honorary Medal, Danish

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. 31 J ...

Society, 1998 *

Torgny Segerstedt Torgny Karl Segerstedt (1 November 1876 – 31 March 1945) was a Swedish professor and scholar of comparative religion, who later became editor-in-chief of the newspaper ''Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning''. He is most remembered for hi ...

Award, Sweden–Israel Friendship Association, 1999 *

Honorary doctor An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

Hebrew College Hebrew College is a private college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, Hebrew College is committed to Jewish scholarship in a pluralistic, trans-denominational academic environment. The president of the colleg ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 2000 *

Order of Brilliant Star Order of Brilliant Star () is a civilian order of the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizing outstanding contributions to the development of the nation. The order is instituted in 1941 and can be awarded to both domestic and foreign nationals. ...

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 is a ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, 2000 *

, 2002 (co-recipients:

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

) *

Bertil Ohlin Bertil Gotthard Ohlin () (23 April 1899 – 3 August 1979) was a Swedish economist and politician. He was a professor of economics at the Stockholm School of Economics from 1929 to 1965. He was also leader of the People's Party, a social-libe ...

Medal,

, 2004 *

Jan Karski Jan Karski (24 June 1914 – 13 July 2000) was a Polish soldier, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II. He is known for having acted as a courier in 1940–1943 to the Polish government-in-exile and to Poland's Western Allies ab ...

Award, American Jewish Committee, 2004

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlmark, Per 1939 births 2018 deaths Writers from Stockholm Stockholm University alumni Members of the Riksdag from the Liberals (Sweden) Leaders of political parties in Sweden Swedish Ministers for Employment Deputy Prime Ministers of Sweden Swedish columnists Swedish essayists 20th-century Swedish novelists 20th-century Swedish poets Swedish political writers Swedish anti-communists Swedish Zionists Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star Swedish male poets Swedish male novelists Male essayists Members of the Riksdag 1970–1973 Members of the Riksdag 1974–1976 Members of the Riksdag 1976–1979 20th-century essayists