Sven Aspling (1912–2000) was a Swedish social democrat politician who served as the general secretary of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

and minister of health and social affairs. He was also a long-term member of the

Swedish Parliament 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 s ...

for the party.

Biography

Andersson, Nilsson, Aspling & Erlander 1960

Aspling was born in

Filipstad Filipstad is a locality and the seat of Filipstad Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 10,644 inhabitants in 2019. Filipstad was granted city privileges in 1611 by Charles IX of Sweden, who named it after his son Duke Carl Philip (1601&n ...

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a ''landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ...

, in 1912. He worked as a sawmill worker. During the period 1937–1942, he was the local editor of ''Värmland Folkblad'' in Filipstad. In 1942 Aspling came to

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabi ...

as the ombudsman of the Social Democratic Party. In this capacity he played a significant role in the transfer of Nordic refugees during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He served as the organizational secretary in the party board between 1946 and 1948. He was the secretary of the party from 1948 to 1962. During his term as the party secretary he launched a magazine in 1953, ''

Aktuellt i Politiken ''Aktuellt i Politiken'' (Swedish: ''Current Issues in Politics''; abbreviated as ''AiP'') is a Swedish language political and news publication which is one of the media outlets of the Social Democratic Party. It has been in circulation since 195 ...

'', which is still in circulation. When he was in office he was also appointed a board member to the advertising group, namely Förenade ARE-Bolagen, which was partly owned by the party. Aspling was a member of the Swedish Parliament for almost three decades, 1956–1985. In 1962 he succeeded

Torsten Nilsson Harald Torsten Leonard Nilsson (1 April 1905 – 14 December 1997) was a Swedish Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a poli ...

as the minister of social affairs, a position he held until 1976. Aspling served in the post in the cabinets led by both

Tage Erlander Tage Fritjof Erlander (; 13 June 1901 – 21 June 1985) was a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and led the government for an uninterrupted tenu ...

and

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until ...

. He was awarded the

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') ( English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"), is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gu ...

in 1987.

Personal life and death

As of 2011 one of his children, Björn, was a

public accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

in Falun. Another, Anders, was the dean of the Swedish Institute of Management in 2010. Sven Aspling was one of the last persons who called and talked to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Olof Palme on the evening of 28 February 1986 shortly before he was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

in Stockholm. Aspling was the author of several books, including ''Med Erlander och Palme'' (1999). He died at his home in

Sundbyberg Sundbyberg Municipality (''Sundbybergs kommun'' or ''Sundbybergs stad'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, just north of the capital Stockholm. Sundbyberg is wholly within the Stockholm urban area and has a 100% urban ...

in February 2000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aspling, Sven 20th-century Swedish journalists 1912 births 2000 deaths Members of the Riksdag from the Social Democrats People from Filipstad Swedish magazine founders Swedish Ministers for Social Affairs Members of the Riksdag 1968–1970 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 Recipients of the Illis quorum