Rolf Gustav Stefan Wirtén (4 May 1931 – 19 February 2023) was a Swedish politician who held various ministerial posts, including the minister of economics and minister for the budget in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Wirtén was born on 4 May 1931. He started his career as a teacher in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat o ...

in the 1950s. He was a member of the Liberals and was elected to the first chamber of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1966, serving there until 1970. He was a member of Parliament from 1971 to 1985. On 7 March 1978 Wirtén was named the minister for gender equality and the minister of immigration. His tenure ended on 18 October 1978. He was the

minister for employment Minister for Employment may refer to: * Minister for Employment (Victoria), Australia * Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Australia * Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments ...

between 1978 and 1980 in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

led by

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Thorbjörn Fälldin Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin (24 April 1926 – 23 July 2016) was a Swedish politician and farmer who served as the prime minister of Sweden from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1979 to 1982, heading three non-consecutive cabinets. He was the ...

. In 1980 Wirtén was appointed minister for the budget, and next year he was made the minister of economics in the second cabinet led by Thorbjörn Fälldin. He held both posts until 1982. During his term Sweden experienced

devaluation In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curre ...

in 1981. He reported that while serving as minister the Swedish economic policy had been designed on the

Keynesian Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...

principles. Wirtén was the governor of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

between 1987 and 1996. In 1997 he was the head of a commission which investigated the allegations about the diamonds of

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

stolen by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and smuggled into Sweden. Wirtén died on 19 February 2023, at the age of 91. He established a foundation named the Wirtén Cultural Foundation. It awards a cultural prize, Wirtén kulturpris, which has been given since 2000 on his birthday, 4 May. The ceremony has taken place at the

Linköping Castle Linköping Castle is situated at Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wirten, Rolf 1931 births 2023 deaths Members of the Riksdag from the Liberals (Sweden) Ministers of economics of Sweden Ministers for the budget of Sweden Ministers for employment of Sweden County governors of Sweden Ministers for gender equality of Sweden Members of the Riksdag 1970–1973 Members of the Riksdag 1974–1976 Members of the Riksdag 1976–1979 Members of the Riksdag 1979–1982 Members of the Riksdag 1982–1985 Members of the Första kammaren