Karin Kock-Lindberg (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Kock; 2 July 1891 – 28 July 1976) was a Swedish politician (

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

) and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. In 1947 she became the first woman to hold a ministerial position in Sweden. She was also the first female professor of economics in Sweden. Karin Kock was known as Karin Kock-Lindberg after her marriage to lawyer Hugo Lindberg in 1936.

Biography

Karin Kock was born 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 ...

, and studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

. She was a

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 ...

at Stockholm University in 1933–1938, and was appointed professor of economics in 1945, after already having functioned as such for several years. She published several works in economics, her speciality being credit and trade cycle problems. Her English language works include her doctoral thesis ''A Study of Interest Rates'' (1929) and ''International Trade and the GATT'' (1969), as well as ''The National Income of Sweden 1861-1930'' (1937) written in collaboration with two other economists. Karin Kock was given several official assignments, such as economic adviser at the Women's Workers Association in 1936 and government delegate at the International Workers' Conference in

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 ...

in 1945. She was a member of The Committee for Increased Women's Representation, founded in 1937 to increase women's political representation.Rönnbäck, Josefin, '"Utan kvinnor inget folkstyre": en historisk exposé över kampen för ökad kvinnorepresentation i Sverige', Tidskrift för genusvetenskap., 2010:3, s. 61-89, 2010 She served as

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

of questions regarding the economy in 1947–1948 and as

minister of supply Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

in 1948–1949. Following the dissolving of the Ministry of Supply in 1950, Karin Kock became director of

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( ; SCB, ) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsibilities include: * developin ...

. She was head of the agency from 1950 to 1957. During 1953 and 1954 she was chairman of the Swedish Statistical Society. She became a fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1956List of ASA Fellows
, retrieved 2016-07-16. and a member of the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. At a meeting of the Jubilee Meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, statisticians met and formed the agreed statues of the International Statistical ...

in 1958. As head of Sweden's delegation to the

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is an intergovernmental organization or a specialized body of the United Nations. The UNECE is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Econom ...

, she acted for some years as chairman of its plenary session in Geneva. Karin Kock was also chairperson of ''Akademiskt bildade kvinnors förening'' (The Association of Female Academicians) from 1926 to 1933 and vice president of

International Federation of University Women Graduate Women International (GWI), originally named the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), is an international organisation for women university graduates. IFUW was founded in 1919 following the First World War by both British and ...

References

* ''Focus uppslagsbok'' Stockholm * ''Media Familjelexikon 7 Kat-Lat'' Bonniers, Verona (1981)

Biography

See also

References

Further reading