Carl Johan Gunnar Persson (14 December 1919 – 6 November 2014) 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 ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Persson served as the National Police Commissioner of the

Swedish Police Authority The Swedish Police Authority () is the national police, police force (''Polisen'') of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under Municipalities of Sweden, local ...

from 1964 to 1978. His highest profile investigations during his tenure as National Police Commissioner included the hijacking of

Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 was an aircraft hijacking which took place in Sweden and subsequently in Spain on 15 and 16 September 1972. While en route from Torslanda Airport in Gothenburg to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, three armed memb ...

to Bulltofta Airport in 1972, the

Norrmalmstorg robbery The Norrmalmstorg robbery was a bank robbery and hostage crisis that occurred at the Norrmalmstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 1973 and was the first crime in Sweden to be covered by live television. It is best known as the origin of ...

in 1973, and the

West German Embassy siege The West German Embassy siege in Stockholm, Sweden, was a hostage standoff initiated by the Red Army Faction (RAF) on 24 April 1975. Collectively, the attackers referred to themselves as Kommando Holger Meins, after Holger Meins, a RAF member w ...

by the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

in 1975. Persson also served as the president of the

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

from 1976 to 1980 and as

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Halland County Halland County (, ) is a county ('' län'') on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland. The capital is Halmstad. Prince Julian, the son of Prince Carl Philip, is Duke of Halland. ...

from 1978 to 1979 and the Governor of the former county of Gothenburg and Bohus from 1979 to 1980.

Early life

Persson was born on 14 December 1919 in Kvidinge,

Kristianstad County Kristianstad County () was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 31 December 1996 when it was merged with Malmöhus County to form Skåne County. The seat of residence for the Governor was in Kristianstad. See also * List of governors of Kristiansta ...

, Sweden, the son of captain Carl Johan Persson and his wife Anni (née Vallin). He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

in 1938 and received 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 ...

degree from

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in 1942.

Career

Persson did his clerkship in Södra Åsbo and Bjäre Judicial District from 1942 to 1945, and became a Legal Clerk in

Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal The Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal () is one of the six appellate courts An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered ...

in 1945. Persson served as a '' tingsrätt'' secretary in the Södra Åsbo and Bjäre Judicial District from 1948 to 1949 (acting in 1947) and as an assessor in 1951. He became ''

hovrättsråd A ''hovrättsråd'' (Swedish) or ''hovioikeudenneuvos'' (Finnish) is a judge of the Swedish or Finnish Court of Appeal (''hovrätt'' or ''hovioikeus''). Until 1789 hovrätt was the highest judicial body in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdo ...

'' in 1961. Persson was notary and secretary in Second Committee on Civil Law (''Andra lagutskottet'') of the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

from 1949 to 1952, and an expert in the

Ministry of Justice 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 ...

in 1954, and in the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

from 1954 to 1955. Persson was head of the ''lagbyrå'' in the Ministry of the Interior in 1955 and became head of the Legal Department in 1957. He was State Secretary from 1958 to 1964 and then served as National Police Commissioner and head of the

Swedish National Police Board The Swedish National Police Board (, RPS) was the central Government agencies in Sweden, administrative authority for the police in Sweden from 1 January 1965 to 1 January 2015, when the Swedish Police Authority was established. The Swedish police ...

from 1964 to 1978. Persson also served as president of the

from 1976 to 1980 and then as

Governor of Halland County This is a list of governors for Halland County of Sweden, from 1658 to present. # Bengt Christoffersson Lilliehöök (1658–1665) # Johan Hård af Segerstad (1665–1676) # Göran Sperling (1676–1678) # Sven Ranck (1678–1684) # Gustaf Tunge ...

in 1978, as well as Governor of Gothenburg and Bohus County from 1979 to 1980. He was a member of the International Health Care Affairs Committee from 1958, a delegate of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

in 1959 and 1961, and chair of the Nordic Commission on the common labor market for doctors and dentists from 1958 to 1962. Persson was chairman of the Mental Health Care Council (''Mentalsjukvårdsberedningen'') 1959–1962, the organization of body and mental health care in

Östergötland County Östergötland County () is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the northeast. It also has a ...

from 1962 to 1964, the

City of Gothenburg Gothenburg Municipality ( or ) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863 the City of Gothenburg, founde ...

merging with the

Gothenburg and Bohus County Gothenburg and Bohus County () was a county of Sweden until 1 January 1998, when it was merged with Skaraborg County and Älvsborg County to form Västra Götaland County. The county was named after the city of Gothenburg and the historical pr ...

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

from 1962 to 1970, the Organizing Committee of the Bailiffs System (''Exekutionsväsendets organisationsnämnd'') from 1964 to 1969 and the investigation of the headship of the

Karolinska Hospital The Karolinska University Hospital () is a teaching hospital affiliated with Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, with two major sites in the municipalities of Solna and Huddinge. The hospital network is the second largest in Sweden, after ...

in 1978. Furthermore, Persson was chairman of the natural resource delegation of the Coordinating Board of the Swedish Research Councils (''Forskningsrådsnämndens naturresursdelegation''), Emergency Services Commission (''Räddningstjänstkommissionen''), the Theft Investigation, National Bacteriological Laboratory (''Statens bakteriologiska laboratorium'') Investigation, the Investigation of Nuclear Power Preparedness from 1987 to 1989, the Delegation for Patient Transport by Helicopter from 1989 to 1991, chairman of the Committee for Teaching of the hospital's Expansion from 1981 to 1990 and the Disaster Commission (''Katastrofkommissionen'') from 1982 to 1990. Persson was also chairman of the board of Kabi-Vitrum, Kabi Gen, Cea, and ABAB from 1970 to 1985. He was vice chairman of Gota Finans from 1985 to 1989, chairman of the Swedish Carnegie Institute from 1982 and consultant in the Swedish-Soviet working group for investigations of

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...

from 1991. He published his

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

, ''Utan omsvep'' ("Head-on") in 1990.

Personal life

In 1943, he married Kerstin "Titti" Holmdahl (1919–2015), the daughter of chief physician Carl Holmdahl and Ida (née Björck). He had four children, including Ingrid (born 1944).

Death

Persson died on 6 November 2014, at the age of 94. He is buried at

Djursholm Djursholm () is one of four suburban districts in, and the seat of Danderyd Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. Djursholm is included in the multi-municipal Stockholm urban area. Djursholm is divided into a number of different areas: Djursho ...

's Cemetery.

Bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Carl 1919 births 2014 deaths Swedish jurists Chiefs of police Governors of Halland County Governors of Gothenburg and Bohus County Swedish memoirists Lund University alumni People from Kristianstad Municipality