Doris Hopp (16 July 1930 – 31 October 1998) was a Swedish

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

madam who organized a network of

call girl A call girl or female escort is a prostitute who (unlike a street prostitution, street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by ...

s 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 ...

, Sweden, in the early 1970s. She was arrested on pimping charges in 1976. A police investigation soon revealed that many of Hopp's customers were well-known politicians and other dignitaries. In November 1977, the newspaper ''

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

'' published allegations citing Justice Minister

Lennart Geijer Johan Lennart Geijer (14 September 1909 – 16 June 1999) was a Swedish politician and lawyer. He is mainly remembered for his role in the Geijer affair and for being the Minister for Justice who himself negotiated with the robbers and terrori ...

as one of Hopp's customers. The newspaper claimed as its source a classified report in which the chief of police

Carl Persson Carl Johan Gunnar Persson (14 December 1919 – 6 November 2014) was a Sweden, Swedish jurist and politician. Persson served as the National Police Commissioner (Sweden), National Police Commissioner of the Swedish Police Authority from 1964 to ...

had informed Prime Minister

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

of the involvement of politicians in the prostitution scandal. At the time of the scandal broke, it was legal to pay for sexual services, but the fact that politicians socialized with prostitutes was viewed as a security risk as staff from foreign embassies were also reported to frequent the brothel. Prime Minister Palme strongly denied the allegations, accusing the newspaper of aggravated libel. The newspaper was forced into a retreat and two days after the publication Lennart Geijer received an official apology. Years later, it emerged that a few minor details aside, the newspaper's assertions had in fact been largely correct. Over the years, there has been much speculation regarding the identities of those who made use of the brothel's services. Former Prime Minister

Thorbjörn Fälldin Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin (24 April 1926 – 23 July 2016) was a Swedish politician and farmer who served as the prime minister of Sweden from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1979 to 1982, heading three non-consecutive cabinets. He was the ...

and former Centre Party leader

Olof Johansson Sten Olof Håkan Johansson (born 31 July 1937) is a Swedish politician, who was the leader of the Swedish Centre Party from 1987 to 1998 and Minister for the Environment from 1991 to 1994. Olof Johansson was born in Ljungby, Kronoberg County. ...

have both publicly denied frequenting Hopp's brothel.

References

* ;Specific 1930 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Swedish criminals Swedish brothel owners and madams People from Stockholm {{Crime-bio-stub