Bo Östen Undén (25 August 1886 – 14 January 1974) was a Swedish academic ( J.D.), civil servant and

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician who served as acting

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister of Sweden (, "minister of state") is the head of government of the Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subject to th ...

6–11 October 1946, following the death of

Per Albin Hansson Per Albin Hansson (28 October 1885 – 6 October 1946) was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister in four Government of Sweden, gov ...

(1885-1946).

Biography

In 1917, he was appointed professor and head of the department of civil law 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 ...

, but he came to divide his career between politics and academia, which prompted his resignation from the position as

rector magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world, the rector is often the most senior official in a u ...

(1929–1932) of that university. He served as the foreign ministry's expert on

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

, as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden 1924–1926 and 1945–1962, minister without portfolio 1917–1920 and 1932–1936, the government's

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

for universities 1937–1951, and he chaired the parliament's committee on foreign relations 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 ...

. In 1930–33, as a

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

arbiter, Undén ruled in favour of Bulgaria in a dispute with Greece regarding the ownership of 19 forests in the Dospat region of southwestern Bulgaria. In 1936, the summit of Dikchan () in the surrounding

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

was named Unden Peak or Professor Unden Peak after the Swedish arbiter. A bronze memorial plate featuring the Bulgarian and Swedish coats of arms and an inscription regarding the name's origin were placed on top of the peak. Östen Undén was much respected, particularly within the Social Democratic Party, but was never uncontroversial. He belonged, together with Ernst Wigforss (1881–1977) clearly to the left-wing faction of the Social Democrats, and has in retrospect been criticised for a much too rosy view of 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 ...

that remained for all of his time as Foreign Minister, ending in 1962. At the same time, Undén must be acknowledged as a chief representative for Sweden's covert

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

adaptation to the United States, as in his view Swedish governmental agencies, including the Defence Forces, were free to conclude any agreements with foreign powers and agencies that did not literally contradict international treaties Sweden was a party of as long as he and his ministry were not formally involved. As an effect, the Swedish government could even, before the founding of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, agree to build air bases in eastern

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

suitable for bombing missions against

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. A similar adaptation included integration in the US

embargo Economic sanctions or embargoes are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior throu ...

policy from the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. In 1961, his "Undén Proposal" argued that states without

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s should declare that they refused to produce such weapons and refuse to receive and store such weapons. Undén's proposal was accepted by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

as a

UN resolution A United Nations resolution (UN resolution) is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly, in the f ...

with 58 votes in favour (Scandinavia, Warsaw pact, third world countries), 10 votes against (NATO members) and 23 votes of abstention (Latin America, former French colonies in Africa).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unden, Osten 1886 births 1974 deaths People from Karlstad Swedish Social Democratic Party politicians Ministers for foreign affairs of Sweden Uppsala University alumni Rectors of Uppsala University Members of the Första kammaren Burials at Uppsala old cemetery 20th-century Swedish politicians Rectors of universities and colleges in Sweden