Sten Sture Andersson (20 April 1923 – 16 September 2006) was a Swedish

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician. He served as Minister for Social Affairs from 1982 to 1985 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1991. He was also President of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

in 1994.

Biography

Andersson was born into a working-class family in the

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...

district of

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 ...

. He started working as a mailman in 1940 while attending evening gymnasium courses, and received his students' degree in 1944. Andersson then began studying

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 ...

and

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 ...

Stockholm University College 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 ...

, but did not graduate. In 1942 Andersson joined the

Swedish Social Democratic Youth League The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League ( ; SSU) is a branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Sweden. The president has been Lisa Nåbo, since August 2021. Organization The members form loc ...

, of which he chaired the local chapter from 1945 to 1948. He was elected a member of the Stockholm city council from 1951 to 1962. From 1953 he worked for the Stockholm labour commune, first as an ombudsman, and then served as its secretary from 1958 to 1962. Andersson was party secretary of the Social Democratic Party from 1962 until 1982, and a member of the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

from 1966 to 1994 (of the First Chamber until 1970). Between 1982 and 1985 he was Minister of Social Affairs, and between 1985 and 1991 Minister of Foreign Affairs. As Foreign Minister, Andersson worked strongly for peace in the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

, and took initiatives for dialogue between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

. After his ministerial career ended, he served as President of the Nordic Council in 1994 and as Chairman of the Olof Palme International Center until 1999. His memoirs were published in 1993.

Personal life

Andersson was married twice, first to Eivor Atling (1930–1970) in 1950. After her death in 1970, he married Britta Holmberg (1941–). He had three children with Atling, and three with Holmberg. Andersson died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 2006.

Honours and awards

National honours and awards

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 ...

, 1995

Foreign honours and awards

PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

, 13 January 1987 * Cordone di gran Croce OMRI BAR

Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

, 8 April 1991 * Star of Jerusalem of the Order of Jerusalem, 2010 (posthumously)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andersson, Sten 1923 births 2006 deaths Politicians from Stockholm Members of the Riksdag from the Social Democrats Ministers for foreign affairs of Sweden Ministers for social affairs of Sweden Members of the Första kammaren Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Recipients of the Illis quorum