Sonja Branting-Westerståhl (15 September 1890 – 18 July 1981) 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 ...

lawyer and politician. She was one of the first female lawyers in Sweden and specialised in matrimonial law. A social democrat, she was active in raising awareness of the rise of far-right politics in 1930s and 1940s. During the Spanish Civil War, she travelled to France and Africa and inspected refugee camps, and campaigned on against the suffering she saw. In 1948, she served in the lower house of the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

, the Swedish Parliament, for a short period.

Early life

Sonja Branting was born on 15 September 1890, the second child of Hjalmar Branting and

Anna Branting Anna Matilda Charlotta Branting (; 19 November 1855 – 11 December 1950), was a Swedish journalist and writer. She was a Social Democrat and married to Swedish prime minister Hjalmar Branting. From the 1880s to 1917, she was an influential theat ...

(née Jäderin). Her father was leader of the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...

and thrice Prime Minister of Sweden, while her mother was a journalist and writer. She attended the Palmgren school until 1909 and subsequently studied law, graduating in 1916. It was while studying law that she met her husband who was also studying the same subject.

Career

After initially working for the Stockholm city legal aid office, Branting-Westerståhl started a practice with her husband in 1927. She developed a specialism in matrimonial disputes and, in 1930, was appointed an advokat by the city. Alongside her legal career, Branting-Westerståhl also followed in her parents' footsteps and was politically active, particularly around women's issues. She was a long-standing member of the

which had been co-founded by her father and, between 1936 and 1952, served as a member of the executive board of the Social Democrat Women's Organisation. During that time, she joined the editorial board of the journal ''

Morgonbris ''Morgonbris'', full title ''Morgonbris: arbeterskornas tidning'' (meaning "Morning Breeze: Journal for working women"), is the magazine of the Social Democratic Women in Sweden. The magazine was founded by the Women's Trade Union in 1904. The fou ...

'' alongside Disa Västberg, who later went on to edit the magazine. During the 1930s, Branting-Westerståhl was very active in raising awareness of the risk of nazism, including touring the United States in 1935 to speak out about the threat of totalitarianism and campaigning against the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

in Berlin. She also campaigned on behalf of those suffering during the Spanish Civil War and inspected refugee camps in France and Africa as international delegate. After the war, she continued to be politically active and briefly sat in the

Andra kammaren The Andra kammaren (lit. Second Chamber) was the lower house of the bicameral Riksdag of Sweden between 1866 and 1970 that replaced the Riksdag of the Estates. The upper house was the Första kammaren. At the time of its abolition the chamb ...

for the Social Democrats in 1948.

Selected works

Branting-Westerståhl wrote extensively and an archive of her papers, manuscripts and correspondence is now held at the Swedish Labour Movement's Archives and Library (ARAB). Her writing included: *Branting-Westerståhl, Sonja. (1936) ''Kvinnor! Se utåt!''. Stockholm. *Branting-Westerståhl, Sonja. (1935) "Vem söker skilsmässa?". ''Hertha''. (22)3. pp. 67–70.

Family

Branting-Westerståhl married Olof Westerståhl in 1914. They had one child, Jörgen, who became a political scientist. Her husband died in 1948. Branting-Westerståhl died on 18 July 1981.

Early life

Career

Selected works

Family

References

Further reading