Carl Sverker Åström (30 December 1915 – 26 June 2012) was a Swedish

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. After completing his studies, Åström began his career as an attaché at the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

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 ...

. He served in the Soviet Union during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later held posts in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, rising to key leadership roles at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From 1964 to 1970, he served as Sweden's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, followed by leading Sweden's EEC treaty negotiations. He later became State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and ambassador to France before retiring in 1982.

Early life and education

Åström was born on 30 December 1915 in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden, the son of John Åström, a lawyer, and his wife Brita Kugelberg. His father died shortly before the

Kreuger Crash Ivar Kreuger (; 2 March 1880 – 12 March 1932) was a Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. In 1908, he co-founded the construction company Kreuger & Toll Byggnads AB, which specialized in new building techniques. B ...

in 1930. Åström studied at

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 received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1935 and a

Candidate of Law Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

in 1939. Åström was a member of the National Student Association in Uppsala, an organization affiliated with the pro-

Nazi 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 ...

National League of Sweden The National Youth League of Sweden ( ; SNU) was the first youth organisation of the General Electoral Union of Sweden. It was dislodged from its mother party in 1934 due to its pro-Nazi stance. It was then reconstructed as a separate political ...

, from 1932 to 1937.

Diplomatic career

Following his studies, Åström was employed as an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

at the

. From 1940 to 1943 he served at the Swedish mission to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, first in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and then in Kuybyshev. He then served at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm from 1943 to 1946. In 1946 he became legation secretary at the Swedish embassy in

He returned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1948 and became director () there in 1949. From 1953 to 1956 he served as embassy councillor at the Swedish embassy in

, and from 1956 to 1963 he was head of the political division and a director () at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 1964, Åström succeeded

Agda Rössel Agda Viola Rössel, née ''Jäderström'' (4 November 1910 – 27 May 2001) was a Swedish politician (Social Democrat) and diplomat. She was appointed Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations in 1958 and was as the first of her g ...

as Sweden's Permanent Representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. He stayed on this post until 1970, when he became Sweden's chief negotiator on the

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

treaty in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Thereafter he served as deputy state secretary for foreign affairs from 1971 to 1972 and state secretary for foreign affairs from 1972 to 1977, and as Swedish ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

from 1978 until his retirement in 1982. Although Åström was a close friend of

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 as ...

, the former Prime Minister 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 Form ...

, Åström was never member of, or attached to, a political party.

Later life

Åström's autobiography, ("Moments: From Half a Century in the Duty of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs"), was published in 1992. In 2003, at the age of 87, Åström

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

. In an interview he has explained that his role as a diplomat made it impossible to declare himself as homosexual in public, but that his superiors and others were informed to eliminate the possibility of him being blackmailed by foreign agents. In 2004 he received the "Gay person of the Year"-award from the Swedish gay-oriented magazine '' QX''. In 2006 he was one of the co-hosts of the Swedish TV-series '' Böglobbyn'' ("The Gay Lobby") on

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

. However he decided to leave the series after just two episodes had been broadcast. In 2011 Åström was awarded the congress prize from the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

recognizing his contributions to the global environment through the UN Environment Conference in Stockholm 1972. He died in Stockholm in 2012.

Awards and honours

Swedish

For Zealous and Devoted Service of the Realm ribbon

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 Gusta ...

'', 12th size (1995) * Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

(6 June 1974) * Royal Order of Vasa - Knight

Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

Foreign

ISL Icelandic Order of the Falcon - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

(10 June 1975) * NLD Order of Orange-Nassau - Grand Officer BAR

Grand Officer of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

(18 May 1957) * ETH Order of the Star of Ethiopia - Grand Officer BAR

Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Abyssinia * AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 6th Class BAR

Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria (1958) * Commander of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

UK Royal Victorian Order honorary member ribbon

Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

FIN Order of the Lion of Finland 4Class BAR

Knight 1st Class of the

Order of the Lion of Finland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Knight of the

Knight of the

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion () is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia having no civilian decoration for its citizens in the 192 ...

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astrom, Sverker 1915 births 2012 deaths Diplomats from Uppsala Uppsala University alumni Gay diplomats Swedish gay men Permanent representatives of Sweden to the United Nations Ambassadors of Sweden to France Recipients of the Illis quorum Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Knights of the Order of Vasa 20th-century Swedish LGBTQ people 21st-century Swedish LGBTQ people