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 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 ...

in the Swedish government from 1976 to 1978. He also served as a member of the Swedish parliament from 1967 to 1978.

Early life and education

Ahlmark 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 ...

, Sweden, as the son of the professor in medicine Axel Ahlmark and the dentist Gunvor Berglund. He completed upper secondary education at Södra Latin in Stockholm and earned a BA in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

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 ...

in 1964.

Political career

Ahlmark joined the Liberal Youth of Sweden in 1960 and was elected chairman of the organization the same year. He served as chairman of the Liberal Youth until 1962 and as a member of the board of the Liberal People's Party from 1960 to 1978. He was elected a member of the upper house of the Swedish parliament from 1967 to 1969 (representing the constituency of

Örebro County Örebro County () is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hilly northern region of ...

) and as a member of the lower house from 1969 to 1970 (representing the constituency of

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality () or the City of Stockholm () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, making it the second most ...

). Following the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

reform in Sweden in 1970–1971, Ahlmark served as a member of the unicameral parliament until 1978. He also served as a member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

from 1971 to 1976, and as deputy chairman of the Martin Luther King Fund from 1968 to 1973. On 7 November 1975, Ahlmark succeeded Gunnar Helén as leader of the Liberal People's Party. from 1975 to 1978. From 1976 to 1978, in the first non-socialist government in Sweden in forty years, Ahlmark served as Minister for Employment and

. On 7 March 1978, Ahlmark retired from party politics for personal reasons. From 1978 to 1981 he served as chairman of the board of the

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute () (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Founded in 1963, the institute is responsible for administering the annual Guldbagge Awards, and for managing the Swed ...

Writings and political views

Ahlmark published several political books and many hundreds of articles about politics, literature and international conflicts. During the 1980s he published three books of poetry, one novel and two books of essays. He was a columnist for ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'', then the largest daily newspaper in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, from 1961 to 1995. From 1997 to 2018 he was a columnist for ''

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 ...

'', the largest Swedish morning paper, and a contributor to ''

Göteborgs-Posten (), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language, Swedish-language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden. History and profile was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1822. It re-appeared in 1850. Publication seven day ...

''. In his writings he accuses the political left in Sweden of being uncritical towards the totalitarian communist regimes especially after 1968. He was a strong supporter of the state of Israel. From 1970 to 1997 he served as deputy chairman of the Sweden–Israel Friendship Association. He co-founded the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism in 1983 and served as its deputy chairman until 1995. In 1997 he founded the Sweden–Taiwan Friendship Association. Ahlmark served as an advisor to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity since 1987, and was a member of board of the

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

-based NGO UN Watch since 1993. In 1994, Ahlmark published the widely debated book ''Vänstern och tyranniet'' ("Tyranny and the Left"), which is the major work on Swedish

fellow traveller A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...

s and political pilgrims during the last thirty years. This book triggered one of the most heated discussions in recent decades in Sweden about freedom and its enemies. His next work, ''Det öppna såret'' ("The Open Sore"), makes a summary of new research regarding democracy and dictatorship respectively in terms of war,

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

mass murder Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...

, and

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

. His last book in the same field was ''Det är demokratin, dumbom!'' ("It's the Democracy, Stupid!"), published in 2004. Ahlmark supported the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, and was extremely critical of

Hans Blix Hans Martin Blix (; born 28 June 1928) is a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party. He was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (1978–1979) and later became the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Blix wa ...

(who is also a prominent member of the Swedish Liberal People's Party and served as Ahlmark's deputy chairman in the Liberal Youth of Sweden). In an article in ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'', Ahlmark described Blix as politically "weak and easily fooled" and a "wimp". In February 2006, Ahlmark wrote in the Wall Street Journal that he had officially nominated former U.S. undersecretary of state John Bolton and American investigative reporter Kenneth R. Timmerman for the Nobel Peace Prize. Calling them "the good guys" for having exposed Iran's nuclear weapons program and worked to curtail it, he again criticized his former deputy Hans Blix and the IAEA for having been "duped for 18 years" by Iran.

The Per Ahlmark Foundation

On account of Ahlmark's 70th birthday in 2009, a new foundation called ''The Per Ahlmark Foundation'' was established in October 2008 by the Jewish assembly in Stockholm. The stated purpose of the foundation is to "promote scientific research and education in

, the

history of ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

and

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

, as well as in economics, all with particular focus on issues concerning democracy and human rights". The foundation is chaired by the Swedish businessman Robert Weil and honorary chairman is the rabbi Michael Melchior.

Personal life

Ahlmark was first married to the journalist Lillemor Melsted in 1965. From 1978 to 1981 he was married to the actress Bibi Andersson. Ahlmark died on 8 June 2018 at the age of 79.

Honors and awards

* Defender of Jerusalem Award, Jabotinsky Foundation, 1986 (co-recipients:

Luis Alberto Monge Luis Alberto Monge Álvarez (December 29, 1925 – November 29, 2016) was the President of Costa Rica from 1982 to 1986. He also served as Costa Rica's first Ambassador to Israel from 1963 until 1966. Biography Early and personal life Monge ...

, Eliahu Essas) * Honorary fellow,

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, 1992 * Dialogue Award,

Norwegian Jews The history of Jews in Norway dates back to the 1400s. Although there were very likely Jewish merchants, sailors and others who entered Norway during the Middle Ages, no efforts were made to establish a Jewish community. Through the early mod ...

, 1996 * Honorary Medal, Danish

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...

Society, 1998 *

Torgny Segerstedt Torgny Karl Segerstedt (1 November 1876 – 31 March 1945) was a Swedish professor and scholar of comparative religion, who later became editor-in-chief of the newspaper ''Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning''. He is most remembered for ...

Award, Sweden–Israel Friendship Association, 1999 * Honorary doctor,

Hebrew College Hebrew College is a private college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, the college conducts Jewish scholarship in a pluralistic, trans-denominational academic environment. Its president is Rabbi Sharon Cohen ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 2000 * Order of Brilliant Star,

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, 2000 * Honorary doctor,

, 2002 (co-recipients:

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

) * Bertil Ohlin Medal, Liberal Youth of Sweden, 2004 *

Jan Karski Jan Karski (born Jan Kozielewski, 24 June 1914 – 13 July 2000) was a Polish soldier, Polish resistance movement in World War II, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II. He is known for having acted as a courier in 1940–1943 to ...

Award,

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

, 2004

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlmark, Per 1939 births 2018 deaths Stockholm University alumni Members of the Riksdag from the Liberals (Sweden) Leaders of political parties in Sweden Ministers for employment of Sweden Deputy prime ministers of Sweden Swedish columnists Swedish essayists 20th-century Swedish novelists 20th-century Swedish poets Swedish political writers Swedish anti-communists Swedish Zionists Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star Swedish male poets Swedish male novelists Male essayists Members of the Riksdag 1970–1973 Members of the Riksdag 1974–1976 Members of the Riksdag 1976–1979 20th-century essayists Novelists from Stockholm Poets from Stockholm