Parisa Mollagholi Liljestrand (born 15 March 1983) is a Swedish politician for the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

. She is the Minister for Culture in the Ulf Kristersson cabinet since 18 October 2022.

Family background

Liljestrand was born in Iran. When she was four, the family fled

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

after the fall of the Shah and during the Iran-Iraq War. Her father was a pilot in the

Iranian armed forces The Iranian Armed Forces, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, are the combined military forces of Iran, comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (''Artesh''), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (''Sepah'') and the Polic ...

and was able to steal a helicopter and fly his family out of the country in the dark over the mountains. After six months at the refugee center in

Surahammar Surahammar ( or ) is a locality and the seat of Surahammar Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 6,179 inhabitants in 2010. History During the reign of Gustav Vasa, there was a hammer in Surahammar. However, it is not known when th ...

, the family finally ended up in

Vallentuna Vallentuna is the seat of Vallentuna Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 33,219 inhabitants in 2018. Vallentuna's cultural landscape is well preserved, and human habitation in the area has been traced back as far as the Stone Age. Arche ...

. In an article in ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'' in 2016, she said that she "takes every opportunity" to celebrate both Swedish and Iranian holidays. She is for the protection of "the libertarian, the democratic values and independence, not least".

Education

Parisa Liljestrand studied to be a teacher at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

between 2001 and 2007. She was

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

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 2018.

Career

In 2002, she founded the direct democratic party Demoex, which was represented in the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

in Vallentuna between 2002 and 2010. In 2010, she got involved in the

instead. After the 2018 election, she became chairwoman of the municipal board in

Vallentuna Municipality Vallentuna Municipality () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Vallentuna. The current municipality was established as a result of the municipal reform of 1971. Its coat of arms depic ...

. She has also chaired the municipality's Business and Labor Market

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, Planning and Environment committee and the Children's and Youth committee. In 2022, Liljestrand was appointed Sweden's Minister for Culture. This includes overseeing the government's relationship with the Swedish

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

community. In 2024, the Swedish gaming industry released a list of 15 culturally significant games under assignment from Liljestrand as the culture minister.

Personal life

She lives in Stockholm and is married with three children.

Honours

Foreign honours

ISL Icelandic Order of the Falcon - Grand Cross BAR

: Grand Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

(6 May 2025)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liljestrand, Parisa 1983 births Living people Women government ministers of Sweden Swedish politicians of Iranian descent Moderate Party politicians 21st-century Swedish politicians Iranian emigrants to Sweden