Märta Margaretha af Ugglas (''née'' Stenbeck; born 5 January 1939) is a Swedish former

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic ...

politician. She was

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

between 1991 and 1994.

Career

She is the daughter of

Hugo Stenbeck Edvard ''Hugo'' Stenbeck (15 October 1890 – 6 January 1977) was a Swedish lawyer and founder of Investment AB Kinnevik. He belonged to a group called in to investigate the collapse of Ivar Kreuger's financial empire. Two of his children became ...

, a lawyer and the founder of

Investment AB Kinnevik Kinnevik AB () is a Swedish investment company that was founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families. Kinnevik is an active and long-term owner investing primarily in digital consumer businesses. Current CEO, Georgi Ganev, w ...

, and his wife Märta (née Odelfeldt). She was the sister of Hugo Jr (1933–1976), Elisabeth Silfverstolpe (1935–1985) and Jan Stenbeck (1942–2002). af Ugglas fought a bitter feud with her brother Jan over the family fortune, and subsequently withdrew from her brother and Kinnevik. af Ugglas attended the Harvard-Radcliffe Program in Business Administration from 1960 to 1971 and graduated from the

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; sv, Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with ...

in 1964 with a degree in business administration and economics (''

Civilekonom Civilekonom, literally "civil economist", is a professional title in Sweden (with corresponding titles in Denmark and Norway, see below) which traditionally refers to an individual who holds either a Bachelor's degree or a Master's degree in busin ...

''). She then worked for ''

Veckans Affärer ''Veckans Affärer'' (, lit. "the week's business") was a Swedish business magazine published on a weekly basis in Stockholm, dealing in all business-related matters both within and outside Sweden. It was in circulation between 1965 and 2019. H ...

'' from 1967 to 1968 and ''

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

'' from 1968 to 1973 as an editorial writer. She was a member of the Stockholm County Council from 1971 to 1973, was publisher of the ''Svensk tidskrift'' from 1980 to 1991, and sat in the Swedish

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 ...

between 1974 and 1995. After the election victory in September 1991, Margaretha af Ugglas became Sweden's second female Minister for Foreign Affairs. Her term included the finalisation of the negotiations leading up to Sweden's entry into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. In 1992, together with an EU Commissioner and nine other Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the Baltic Sea area, she founded the

Council of the Baltic Sea States The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: Regional Identity, Safe & Secure Region and Sustainable & Prosperous Region. These three priority areas aim to address ...

(CBSS) and the EuroFaculty. af Ugglas served as the Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE from 1992 to 1993. The Moderate Party lost the 1994 election and she was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

in 1995. She was vice chairman of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily ...

from 1996. She was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a board member of the

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( sv, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Swed ...

(SIDA) and a delegate 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 human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

. Furthermore, af Ugglas was board member of the Bulten-Kanthal AB, Investment AB Kinnevik

Boliden AB Boliden AB is a Swedish multinational metals, mining, and smelting company headquartered in Stockholm. The company produces zinc, copper, lead, nickel, silver, and gold, with operations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Ireland. Boliden is linke ...

, Swedish Match AB and Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB. She was chairman of the

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

's Stockholm Association, the

Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization ( sv, Riksförbundet Sveriges lottakårer (juridical), communicatively known as ''Svenska Lottakåren'', SLK ) is an independent auxiliary defence organization in Sweden. The organisation is part o ...

and the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation from 2002 to 2010.

Personal life

In 1966 she married Bertil af Ugglas (1934–1977), the son of Commander Oscar af Ugglas and Ingeborg (née Lewenhaupt).

Awards and decorations

EST_Order_of_the_Cross_of_Terra_Mariana_-_1st_Class_BAR

1st Class of the

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana ( et, Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk, sometimes translated as the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of t ...

(9 February 2000)

References