Brigadier General Claes-Göran Hedén (born 12 October 1944) is a retired

Swedish Coastal Artillery The Swedish Coastal Artillery () has its origin in the Archipelago Artillery that was raised in 1866. The Coastal Artillery was formed from the Archipelago Artillery, the Marine Regiment and parts of the Artillery in 1902. Kustartilleriet, abbr ...

Swedish Amphibious Corps The Amphibious Corps (, Amf) is the Marines, marine infantry arm of the Swedish Navy, with an emphasis on coastal defence. It has its roots in the Swedish Coastal Artillery, coastal artillery (, KA) but after the end of the Cold War it was seen as ...

officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Coastal Ranger School, Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment, the Northern Coast Marine Command and the Swedish Armed Forces International Command. After retiring from the military, Hedén served as governor of

Gripsholm Castle Gripsholm Castle () is a castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden. It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm. Since Gustav I Vasa, Gripsholm has belonged ...

and Strömsholm Castle.

Early life

Hedén was born on 12 October 1944 in

Engelbrekt Parish Engelbrekt Parish () is a parish in Östermalm's church district (''kontrakt'') in the Diocese of Stockholm, Sweden. The parish is located in Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm County. The parish forms its own pastorship. History Engelbrekt Par ...

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 ...

, Sweden, and 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 Stockholm in 1964.

Career

Hedén graduated from the

Royal Swedish Naval Academy The Royal Swedish Naval Academy (, KSS) was a school for officer training for the Swedish Navy, which operated in various forms between the years 1756 and 1987. History 1683–1791 In 1683, when the charter was issued that "those who were propo ...

in 1967 and was commissioned as an officer in the Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 1) the same year with the rank of second lieutenant. He served as an instructor there and as platoon leader from 1967 to 1970. Hedén was promoted to lieutenant in 1969. He then served as a recruiting officer in the Naval Staff from 1970 to 1971 and as company commander at the Coastal Ranger School from 1971 to 1974. He was promoted to captain in 1972. He attended the General Course at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1974 to 1975. In 1975 he was promoted to major and from 1975 to 1976 he was a teacher of tactics at the Swedish Coast Artillery School (''Kustartilleriets skjutskola'', KAS), after which he attended the Staff Course at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1976 to 1978. He served in the Defence Staff from 1978 to 1980, and studied at the French Naval College from 1980 to 1981. In 1982 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and from 1982 to 1984 he was course director at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College, and then he was commanding officer of the Coastal Ranger School from 1985 to 1988. Hedén served as a defense attaché at the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

embassies from 1988 to 1991, and he was promoted to colonel in 1990. From 1991 to 1992, he served as Chief Intelligence and Security Officer of the

Middle Military District Middle Military District (, Milo M) was a Sweden, Swedish Military district (Sweden), military district, a command of the Swedish Armed Forces that had operational control over Middle Sweden, for most time of its existence corresponding to the ar ...

, followed by the Higher Command Course in 1992. Hedén then served as commanding officer of the Vaxholm Coast Artillery Regiment from 1992 to 1994. In 1994 he was promoted to senior colonel, then from 1994 to 1996 he was commander of the Northern Coast Marine Command (''Norrlandskustens marinkommando'', MKN) and the Härnösand Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 5) and served at the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. SHAPE is situated in the villag ...

in 1996. From 1996 to 1997 he was Inspector of the Coastal Artillery and commanding officer of the Coastal Artillery Center (''Kustartillericentrum'', KAC), after which he attended the Chief Course at the Swedish National Defence College in 1997. From 1997 to 2002, he was head of the Swedish Armed Forces International Command (''Försvarets internationella kommando'') (which in 2000 was renamed the Swedish Armed Forces Center for International Operations, ''Försvarsmaktens centrum för internationell verksamhet'') and in 2000 he was promoted to brigadier general. In the years 2006-2010 he was a governor of

and Strömsholm Castle. Hedén is a member (seat no 4) of the Sörmland Academy (''SörmlandsAkademien''), a non-profit organization, with the task to pay significant attention to efforts made by Sörmlanders, Sörmland companies and Sörmland authorities.

Personal life

Claes-Göran Hedén is married to Elizabeth Hedén. The Hedén's lived in

Vaxholm Vaxholm is a city, urban area and the seat of Vaxholm Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. It occupies the islands of Vaxön and Kullö in the Stockholm archipelago. The name Vaxholm comes from Vaxholm Fortress, which was constructed in 154 ...

until they sold their house in 2006. After living in a wing at Gripsholm Castle during his time as governor, the Hedén's moved to Lida gård in

Flen Municipality Flen Municipality () is a municipality in central Södermanland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Flen. The present municipality was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of the ''City of Flen'' (instituted in 194 ...

in 2015.

Dates of rank

*1967 – Second lieutenant *1969 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

*1972 –

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

*1975 –

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

*1982 – Lieutenant colonel *1990 –

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

*1994 –

Senior colonel __NOTOC__ Senior colonel is an officer rank usually placed between a regular colonel and a British brigadier or American brigadier general. Use Most western militaries tend to equate a senior colonel as being on the level of a "brigadier general ...

*2000 – Brigadier general

Awards and decorations

H. M. The King's Medal, 8th size gold (silver-gilt) medal worn on the chest suspended by the Order of the Seraphim ribbon (1990) * Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livin ...

(1 July 1993)

Honours

*Member of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences (1986; resigned in 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heden, Claes-Goran 1944 births Living people Swedish Amphibious Corps generals Military personnel from Stockholm Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences 20th-century Swedish military personnel 21st-century Swedish military personnel