Stig Kjell Olof "Ola" Ullsten (23 June 1931 – 28 May 2018) was a Swedish

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 ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who was

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister of Sweden (, "minister of state") is the head of government of the Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subject to th ...

from 1978 to 1979 and leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1978 to 1983. He also served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

briefly in 1978 and then again from 1980 to 1982 and served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1979 to 1982. Ullsten is Sweden's only Liberal prime minister since the 1930s.

Background and early career

Stig Kjell Olof Ullsten was born in Teg,

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), sometimes called West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in northern Sweden, located by the Gulf of Bothnia. It borders the provinces of Ångermanland, Lapland and Norrbotten. The region is famous for Väs ...

, a small town that would ultimately be annexed as a part of

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

capital

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

. He was the son of forestry inspector Carl Augustin Ullsten (14 August 1892 – 27 March 1977) and schoolteacher Kristina Ullsten (née Röström; 27 February 1900 – 23 March 1993). Ullsten joined the Liberal Youth of Sweden and the People's Party in the spring of 1958. In his youth he made several travels to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and in 1959 took an active part in the successful campaign to elect liberal Republican

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

governor of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He served as the head of the Liberal Youth of Sweden between 1962 and 1964 and was elected to parliament in 1964.

Ministerial and political appointments

Upon the formation in 1976 of the first non-socialist government in Sweden in 40 years, he was appointed Minister for International Development. When Liberal Party leader

Per Ahlmark Per Axel Ahlmark (15 January 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Swedish politician and writer. He was the leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1975 to 1978, and Minister for Employment and Deputy Prime Minister in the Swedish government from 197 ...

resigned in 1978, Ullsten was elected party leader.

Prime Minister of Sweden

Sweden's

center-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

coalition government broke up later in 1978, mainly owing to disagreements over energy policy. Ullsten then succeeded to the post of

, heading a minority government consisting of Liberal Party and independent ministers. After the successful survival of the coalition in the 1979 parliamentary elections, he resigned as prime minister in favor of

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 ...

, his predecessor.

Later career

He then went on to serve as Minister for Foreign Affairs under the new three-party government of Thorbjörn Fälldin from 1979 to 1982. He has later served as the Swedish Ambassador to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, also accredited to

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

from 1984 to 1989 and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, also accredited to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

from 1989 to 1995.

Personal life

In 1961 he married Evi Esko (29 October 1931 – 2 January 1992), daughter of the teachers Roman Esko and Elsa Tammik. They divorced in 1981 and in 1989 Ullsten married Louise Beaudoin (born 1954). Ullsten died on 28 May 2018 at the age of 86 after an unspecified illness. At the time of his death, he had four children and three grandchildren.

Awards

Ullsten was awarded the

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It") is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gusta ...

by the government of Sweden in 2001.

Bibliography

* ''Folkpartiet och reformerna : liberala riksdagsinitiativ 1902-1960'' (1960) * ''Guide-lines for international development co-operation'' (1978) * ''Liberaler om utveckling'' (1978) * ''Sweden and the developing countries'' (1979) * ''Vad ska vi göra med kulturpolitiken? : anföranden och kommentarer kring den svenska kulturpolitikens "fem-årsdag"'' (1979) * ''Lättsinnet i siffror : en sammanfattning av socialdemokraternas ställningstaganden till de 15 viktigaste besparingsförslagen'' (1982) * ''Kämpande liberalism : anförande'' (1982) * ''Ola Ullsten : partiledaren, demokraten, internationalisten, folkpartisten, statsministern, idédebattören'' (1983) * ''Så blev det'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ullsten, Ola 1931 births 2018 deaths People from Umeå Liberals (Sweden) politicians Prime ministers of Sweden Deputy prime ministers of Sweden Ministers for foreign affairs of Sweden Ministers for international development cooperation of Sweden Leaders of political parties in Sweden Ambassadors of Sweden to Canada Ambassadors of Sweden to the Bahamas Ambassadors of Sweden to Italy Ambassadors of Sweden to Albania Members of the Riksdag 1970–1973 Members of the Riksdag 1976–1979 Members of the Riksdag 1979–1982 Members of the Riksdag 1982–1985 Recipients of the Illis quorum Members of the Riksdag from the Liberals (Sweden)