Per Ahlmark

Per Ahlmark
Minister for Employment
In office
8 October 1976 – 7 March 1978
Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin
Preceded by Ingemund Bengtsson
Succeeded by Rolf Wirtén
Deputy Prime Minister
In office
8 October 1976 – 7 March 1978
Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin
Preceded by Gunnar Sträng
Succeeded by Ola Ullsten
Personal details
Born (1939-01-15) 15 January 1939
Stockholm, Sweden
Political party Liberal People's Party
Alma mater Stockholm University
Occupation Politician

Per Axel Ahlmark (born 15 January 1939) is a Swedish writer and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1975 to 1978, and Minister for Employment and Deputy Prime Minister in the Swedish government from 1976 to 1978. He also served as a member of the Swedish parliament from 1967 to 1978.

Early life and education

Per Ahlmark was born in Stockholm, Sweden, as the son of the professor in medicine Axel Ahlmark and the dentist Gunvor Berglund.[1] He completed upper secondary education at Södra Latin in Stockholm[2] and earned a BA in political science from Stockholm University in 1964.[1]

Political career

Ahlmark joined the Liberal Youth of Sweden in 1960 and was elected chairman of the organization the same year. He served as chairman of the Liberal Youth until 1962 and as a member of the board of the Liberal People's Party from 1960 to 1978. He was elected a member of the upper house of the Swedish parliament from 1967 to 1969 (representing the constituency of Örebro County) and as a member of the lower house from 1969 to 1970 (representing the constituency of Stockholm Municipality). Following the unicameral reform in Sweden in 1970/1971, Ahlmark served as a member of the unicameral parliament until 1978. He also served as a member of the Council of Europe from 1971 to 1976, and as deputy chairman of the Martin Luther King Fund from 1968 to 1973.[3]

On 7 November 1975, Ahlmark succeeded Gunnar Helén as leader of the Liberal People's Party. from 1975 to 1978. From 1976 to 1978, in the first non-socialist government in Sweden in forty years, Ahlmark served as Minister for Employment and Deputy Prime Minister. On 7 March 1978, Ahlmark retired from party politics due to personal reasons.[4] From 1978 to 1981 he served as chairman of the board of the Swedish Film Institute.[3]

Writings and political views

Ahlmark has published several political books and many hundreds of articles about politics, literature and international conflicts. During the 1980s he published three books of poetry, one novel and two books of essays. He was a columnist for Expressen, then the largest daily newspaper in Scandinavia, from 1961 to 1995.[3] Since 1997 he is a columnist for Dagens Nyheter, the largest Swedish morning paper, and a contributor to Göteborgs-Posten. In his writings he accuses the political left in Sweden of being uncritical towards the totalitarian communist regimes especially after 1968.[5]

He is a strong supporter of the state of Israel.[4] From 1970 to 1997 he served as deputy chairman of the Sweden–Israel Friendship Association.[3] He co-founded the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism in 1983 and served as its deputy chairman until 1995.[3] In 1997 he founded the Sweden–Taiwan Friendship Association.[6]

Ahlmark also serves as an advisor to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity since 1987, and is a member of board of the Geneva-based NGO UN Watch since 1993.[3]

In 1994, Ahlmark published the widely debated book Vänstern och tyranniet ("Tyranny and the Left"), which is the major work on Swedish fellow travellers and political pilgrims during the last thirty years. His next work, Det öppna såret ("The Open Sore"), makes a summary of new research regarding democracy and dictatorship respectively in terms of war, genocide/mass murder, and famine. In 1997 this book triggered one of the most heated discussions in recent decades in Sweden about freedom and its enemies. His latest book in the same field is Det är demokratin, dumbom! ("It's the Democracy, Stupid!"), published in 2004.

Ahlmark supported the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, and has been extremely critical of Hans Blix (who is also a prominent member of the Swedish Liberal People's Party and served as Ahlmark's deputy chairman in the Liberal Youth of Sweden).[7] In an article in The Washington Times, Ahlmark described Blix as politically "weak and easily fooled" and a "wimp".[7]

The Per Ahlmark Foundation

On account of Ahlmark's 70th birthday in 2009, a new foundation called The Per Ahlmark Foundation was established in October 2008 by the Jewish assembly in Stockholm.[8] The stated purpose of the foundation is to "promote scientific research and education in political science, the history of ideas and Jewish history, as well as in economics, all with particular focus on issues concerning democracy and human rights".[8] The foundation is chaired by the Swedish businessman Robert Weil and honorary chairman is the rabbi Michael Melchior.[9]

Personal life

Ahlmark was first married to the journalist Lillemor Melsted in 1965.[1] From 1978 to 1981 he was married to the actress Bibi Andersson.[10]

Honors and awards

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lagerström, Sten, ed. (1968). "Ahlmark, Per". Vem är det : svensk biografisk handbok. 1969 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-7133-747-4.
  2. ↑ Hylén, Mats (15 January 2004). "Per Ahlmark 65 år". Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sleeman, Elizabeth, ed. (2003). "Ahlmark, Per". The International Who's Who 2004. London: Routledge. p. 17. ISBN 1-85743-217-7.
  4. 1 2 "Ahlmark, Per". Nationalencyklopedin Multimedia 2000 (in Swedish). Höganäs: Bra Böcker. 2000. ISBN 91-7133-747-4.
  5. ↑ Henningsen, Bernd (1998:1) (in German): "Die europäische Wunde blutet auch im Norden. Zur Diskussion über intellektuelle Mitläufer und politische Kollaboration: Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Castro und die Skandinavier". NORDEUROPAforum, p. 113-118, http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/nordeuropaforum/1998-1/henningsen-bernd-113/XML/
  6. ↑ "Om Per Ahlmark" (in Swedish). Timbro. Archived from the original on 22 July 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  7. 1 2 Ahlmark, Per (1 November 2002). "Sending in a dupe to disarm Saddam". Washington Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  8. 1 2 Manfredh, Thomas (20 October 2008). "Per Ahlmark ger namn åt stiftelse för MR-frågor". Dagen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  9. ↑ "Stifelse till Per Ahlmarks ära" (PDF) (in Swedish). Judiska församlingen i Stockholm. October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  10. ↑ "Andersson, Bibi". Nationalencyklopedin Multimedia 2000 (in Swedish). Höganäs: Bra Böcker. 2000. ISBN 91-7133-747-4.
  11. ↑ "3 Named Co-Winners of Jabotinsky Awards", The New York Times, 12 October 1986, retrieved 8 April 2014
  12. ↑ "Three International Figures Receive Defender of Jerusalem Award", Jewish Telegraph Agency, 8 October 1986, retrieved 8 April 2014
  13. ↑ "Per Ahlmark,", Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish), 6 August 1992
  14. ↑ "Personnytt", TT (published in Dagens Nyheter), 21 November 1996
  15. ↑ "Namn och Nytt", Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish), 30 December 1998
  16. ↑ "Personnytt: Pris", Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish), 20 November 1999
  17. ↑ "PERSONNYTT: Utnämning", Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish), 30 March 2000
  18. ↑ "Personnytt: Utmärkelse", Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish), 4 May 2000
  19. ↑ "Hedrad Ahlmark", Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish), 12 February 2002
  20. ↑ "Ungliberaler prisbelönar Ahlmark", Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish), 4 January 2004, retrieved 13 April 2014
  21. ↑ Presentation of the Jan Karski Award to Per Ahlmark, Sweden, American Jewish Committee, 5 May 2004, retrieved 7 April 2014
Party political offices
Preceded by
Göran C.-O. Claesson		 Leader of the Liberal Youth of Sweden
1960–1962 		Succeeded by
Ola Ullsten
Preceded by
Gunnar Helén		 Leader of the Liberal People's Party
1975–1978 		Succeeded by
Ola Ullsten
Political offices
Preceded by
Ingemund Bengtsson		 Minister for Employment
1976–1978 		Succeeded by
Rolf Wirtén
Preceded by
Gunnar Sträng		 Deputy Prime Minister
1976–1978 		Succeeded by
Ola Ullsten
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