Aina Erlander (née Andersson; 28 September 1902 – 24 February 1990) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

and the wife of

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

Tage Erlander Tage Fritjof Erlander (; 13 June 1901 – 21 June 1985) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party from 1946 to 1969. Previously, h ...

from 1930 until his death in June 1985.

Biography

Aina Erlander's father was a mill and factory owner active in right wing politics. Erlander attended a girls school and gymnasium, and then continued her studies in Lund. In 1923, she met

, a fellow student in Lund. They worked together in the chemistry department. They married in 1930 and had two sons. Aina worked as a teacher at Södra flickläroverket 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 ...

when Tage Erlander became

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 ...

in October 1946. Aina Erlander was a member of the board of

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

and in 1949 travelled to the then

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, suffering the effects of

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 1954 she visited the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, which had been

flooded A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civ ...

in 1953. In 1957 Erlander became chairperson of

Unga Örnar Unga Örnar (Young Eagles), officially ''Unga Örnars Riksförbund'' (Young Eagles' Realm League), is a children's organisation in Sweden. ''Unga Örnar'' was founded on 7 November 1931 by the labour movement and the Swedish Social Democratic Yo ...

(sv) ('Young Eagles', a children's and youth rights organisation affiliated to the

International Falcon Movement – Socialist Educational International The International Falcon Movement – Socialist Educational International (IFM-SEI) is an international non-profit organisation based in Belgium that campaigns for children's rights. It is a fraternal organisation of Socialist International and ...

), a position she retained for nine years. After her husband resigned from the premiership in 1969,, the couple lived in a house constructed at Bommersvik by the Social Democrats to honor Tage, which was owned by the

Swedish Social Democratic Youth League The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League ( ; SSU) is a branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Sweden. The president has been Lisa Nåbo, since August 2021. Organization The members form loc ...

. Following the death of her husband in 1985, she sorted and edited his papers. She died in 1990, and is buried beside him.

Biography

References

Bibliography

Further reading