Birger Ekeberg (1880–1968) was a Swedish jurist and legal scholar. He served as

justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

of Sweden, and during his tenure the

Swedish Parliament The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportionally and serving, since 1994, f ...

abolished the death penalty on 7 May 1921.

Early life and education

Ekeberg was born 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 ...

on 10 August 1880. He graduated from

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 ...

in 1902 receiving a degree in law. He completed his PhD in

private law Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...

at the same university in 1904 and became an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

the same year.

Career

Following his graduation he joined his alma mater as a faculty member where he worked until 1907 when he began to work at the newly founded law faculty of Stockholm University. There he was the professor of private and civil law and a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

between 1945 and 1968. He was first appointed minister of justice in 1920 and served in the post for one year. One of his most significant contributions was the annulment of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

in Sweden in 1921. He was reappointed to the post in 1923 and remained in office until 1924. Then he worked at the council of justice which he also headed from 1927 and at the supreme court. He was named as the head of the Court of Appeal in 1931. His term ended in 1946 with the royal permission. He was appointed Marshal of the Realm in 1947, replacing Axel Vennersten in the post. Ekeber remained in office until 1959. In addition to these academic and political posts Ekeberg was the board member of the following organizations: Stockholm University (1927–1958),

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; , HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with PhD- and Executive education progr ...

(1939–1957),

Nobel Foundation The Nobel Foundation () is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. It also holds Nobel Sym ...

(1947–1960) and Swedish Association of Judges (1935–1948).

Work and death

Ekeberg published many articles most of which were about

patent law A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

and

maritime law Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between pri ...

. He was among the founders of the law journal entitled ''Svensk Juristtidnings'' and was a member of its editorial board between in 1916 and 1960. He headed the journal's editorial board from 1940 to 1960. He died on 30 November 1968.

Awards

Ekeberg was awarded honorary doctorate by

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

in 1923, by the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

in 1945, by the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

in 1955 and by Stockholm University in 1953.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekeberg, Birger 20th-century Swedish lawyers 1880 births 1968 deaths Ministers for justice of Sweden Uppsala University alumni Academic staff of Uppsala University Academic staff of Stockholm University Politicians from Uppsala Independent politicians in Sweden