Erik Gustaf Bernhard Boström (11 February 1842 – 21 February 1907) was a Swedish landowner and politician who was a member of the Swedish Parliament (1876–1907) and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Sweden of the 19th century. He served twice, first from 1891 to 1900 and then again from 1902 to 1905. He was also known as E.G. Boström or E. Gust. Boström. In 1871, he married Carolina "Lina" Almqvist, with whom he had six daughters and one son. He was the brother of Filip Boström, governor of

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

between 1887 and 1908, and of Ebba Boström, and the nephew of the philosopher Christopher Jacob Boström. Boström's governmental policy was marked by its

pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics� ...

. Over time, Boström gained a good reputation as being a rallying national icon despite being the first prime minister to have neither an academic education nor experience with upper governmental positions. He was also quite popular with King Oscar II. Boström's eventual downfall was caused by his refusal to budge on the issue of Norway.

Childhood and career

Erik Gustaf Boström was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, the son of Eric Samuel Boström,

chief judge Chief judge may refer to: In lower or circuit courts The highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. * Chief judge (Australia) * Chief judge (United States) In supreme courts Some of Chief ...

of the

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

and his wife Elisabet Gustava Fredenheim. The family was one branch of the Laestadius family of priests from

Norrland Norrland (, , originally ''Norrlanden'', meaning 'the Northlands') is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administrative p ...

. His paternal grandfather Christopher Laestander, a townsman and ship carpenter in the city of

Piteå Piteå (; ) is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326. Geography Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River (), at the shore of ...

, took the surname Boström. He was tutored by Kristian Claëson, whose first cousin served as the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs under Boström in 1898. In 1854, he became a student at the Uppsala Cathedral School, which was also the year his father died. Five of his fellow cabinet members during his first term attended the same school:

Axel Rappe ''Friherre'' General Axel Emil Rappe (2 October 1838 – 18 December 1918) was a Swedish Army officer and Minister of War from 1892 and 1899. Early life Rappe was born on 2 October 1838 in Christinelund manor in Arby, Kalmar County, the son of ...

, Edvard von Krusenstjerna, Ludvig Annerstedt, Gustaf Gilljam and Lars Åkerhielm. In 1861, he transferred to

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

, where he studied until 1863 when his mother died and he had to take over her manor at Östanå Castle. As a youth he availed himself of the opportunity to pay to avoid

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

, which was last possible in 1872. Boström was quite successful as a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

and he started to get involved in local politics. In January 1870, he became a member of the

executive committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

of the Agricultural Society of Stockholm County and of the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

of Stockholm County, where he also served as vice-chairperson and chairperson for many years. In 1871, he married Carolina Almqvist, daughter of Justice Councillor and Minister Ludvig Almqvist. In 1875, he was elected to the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

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 ...

to represent the

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of Södra Roslagen. In parliament, he joined the Lantmanna Party and quickly positioned himself as a leading

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

, supporting

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

protection, in the Standing Committees of Ways and Means and of

Banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. In addition, he was interested in a strong defence, which he considered to have manifested itself as a strong marine defence, and a strong opposition to the abolition of the Swedish allotment system.

Chancellor of the Swedish Universities 1905–1907

After he retired from his position as

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 ...

, Boström became the Chancellor of the Swedish Universities, where he tried unsuccessfully to prevent Bengt Lidforss from continuing on as

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

. He then tendered his

resignation Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

from his position as chancellor, although he quickly retracted it. Boström continued to be interested in politics and in a letter that he wrote to his dear old friend Carl Herslow on 4 June, he stated that it would be extremely desirable for the recently retired government to have been able to stay on. He also said in a letter that

Karl Staaff Karl Albert Staaff (21 January 1860 – 4 October 1915) was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1905 to 1906 and again from 1911 to 1914. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party from ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

could take of

social policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...

better than a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

government could and that Staaff occasionally appeared to possess the ability to accomplish a lot, although he chose a different way. Boström died in his home in

on 21 February 1907. A few days later, the bells pealed out over Stockholm to commemorate the former Prime Minister.

Family

*One brother, County Governor of

Södermanland County Södermanland County (, ) is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is the ...

Filip Boström. *Three sisters, including Ebba Boström *Six daughters: Hedvig, Carolina Elisabeth, Sofia Lovisa, Clara Gustafva, Ingeborg Maria and Eva Margareta. *One son: Chamberlain Gustaf Samuel Boström. *Married to Carolina Almqvist, daughter of Councillor of Justice and Minister Ludvig Almqvist.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bostrom, Erik Gustaf 1842 births 1907 deaths Politicians from Stockholm Members of the Andra kammaren Prime ministers of Sweden Ministers of finance of Sweden Uppsala University alumni 19th-century Swedish politicians 19th-century Swedish landowners