Italian Swedes (; ) are Swedish-born citizens who are fully or partially of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent, whose ancestors were

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

who emigrated to Sweden during the

Italian diaspora The Italian diaspora (, ) is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended ...

, or Italian-born people in Sweden.

Italian community

As of 2018, there are 8,126 people born in

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 ...

living in Sweden, as well as 10,961 people born in Sweden with at least one parent born in Italy.

History

Italian immigration to Sweden has had several reasons, the most important of which is immigration for work and began in numbers during the second half of the 1940s, but could be traced back as early as the 16th century. Among the Italians who moved to Sweden in the 16th century, is the nobleman Antonio de Palm. Italian plasterers spread to Sweden in the 17th century, and performed ornamental plaster and stucco work on buildings that required artistic decoration. After the architectural transition to the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

, the interest in the plasterers' decorations waned, which led to the end of the immigration of this Italian professional group to Sweden. Sweden's low birth rate during the 1920s and 1930s led the country to recruit abroad, where, among other places, Italian workers spread to the country's major industrial cities.

Record years The record years () is a period in the economy of Sweden, dating from the international post–World War II economic expansion to the 1973 oil crisis, and largely coinciding with the mandates of prime ministers Tage Erlander and earliest years o ...

of high labor demand accelerated the increase. In the Italian newspaper "''Il Popolo Nuovo''", on 11 June 1946, an article was published entitled "''Svezia, paese senza poveri''" ("Sweden, a country without the poor people"). The article talked about the working, economic and social conditions in Sweden, together with the sacrifices that potential immigrants would have to make. The organized labor immigration of Italians to Sweden began after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, more precisely in 1947. As Swedish industry did not suffer the destructive consequences of the war as a result of the Swedish policy of neutrality during the war, Swedish industries remained in a state of growth, without war-induced obstacles. As the rest of Europe was hit by heavy bombing, much of the financial resources of the affected countries, unlike Sweden, went to rebuilding industries and cities. Sweden on the other hand concentrated completely on industry and, due to widespread unemployment in post-war Europe, a lot of manpower flowed into Sweden, including many Italians. During this period, Swedish industrialists lobbied the Swedish government to conclude agreements with the Italian government in order to recruit skilled labor from Italy to remedy the labor shortage in the country. The Swedish and Italian governments officially signed a bilateral agreement in 1947, which referred to the requirements and rights that would apply to Italian immigrants who would be employed by Swedish companies. The agreement was signed by the Italian Mario Tommasini and the Swedish Folke Thunborg on 19 July 1947. The agreement included 17 clauses, which concerned specialized manpower, and referred to the probationary hiring of Italian immigrants for two years. After the bilateral agreement signed by Italy and Sweden in 1947, in a few months, many Italian workers arrived in Sweden to work at

Saab Kockums Saab Kockums AB is a shipyard headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, owned by the Swedish defence company Saab AB. Saab Kockums AB is further operational in Muskö, Docksta, and Karlskrona. While having a history of civil vessel construction, Kocku ...

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

SKF AB SKF (, 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing (mechanical), bearing and seal (mechanical), seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication an ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and

ASEA ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' ( English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company. History ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås ...

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

. During the 1950s, hundreds of workers from

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

were recruited for the production of military aircraft at

Saab AB Saab AB (originally , , acronym SAAB), with subsidiaries collectively known as the Saab Group (), is a Swedish aerospace and defense company, defence company primarily operating from Sweden. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, but its de ...

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

, especially for the production of the J29 "Tunnan". The greatest growth in Italian migration to Sweden occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. After the 1973–74 oil crisis, labor immigration to Sweden generally declined, due to the deteriorating economic situation, combined with high unemployment. The first Italian association in Sweden was established in 1948, and in 1960 the Federation of Italian Associations in Sweden was established.

Demography

People born in Italy living in Sweden

The age distribution among people born in Italy living in Sweden in 2015 was: * 0–14 years: 1,245 (11.6%) * 15–64 years: 7,271 (67.5%) * Age 65 and over: 2,253 (20.9%)

Swedes of Italian descent

As of 31 December 2014 there were 7,964 people born in Sweden with an Italian background or ancestry:Statistiska centralbyrån: Befolkning efter födelseland och ursprungsland 31 december 2015
/ref> * Persons born in Sweden with both parents born in Italy: 932 * Persons born in Sweden with father born in Italy and mother in another foreign country: 1,280 * Persons born in Sweden with mother born in Italy and father in another foreign country: 552 * Persons born in Sweden with father born in Italy and mother in Sweden: 7,196 * Persons born in Sweden with mother born in Italy and father in Sweden: 1,834

Notable Italian Swedes

Amelia Adamo Amelia Adamo (born 24 February 1947) is a Swedish journalist. She established several women's magazines and worked as an editor-in-chief. Biography She was born in Rome, Italy, and went to Sweden soon after her birth. She received a degree in so ...

, editor-in-chief *

Alesso Alessandro Renato Rodolfo Lindblad (born 7 July 1991), better known by his stage name Alesso (), is a Swedish DJ and record producer. He has worked with numerous artists, including Tove Lo, Theo Hutchcraft, Ryan Tedder, Hailee Steinfeld, Ca ...

, DJ and producer *

Anna Maria Corazza Bildt Anna Maria Corazza Bildt (''née'' Anna Maria Corazza; born 10 March 1963) is an Italian-Swedish entrepreneur and politician, Member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019. She was elected as a member of the Swedish Moderate Party (part ...

, MEP *

Marcus Birro Marcus Adriano Birro (born 15 June 1972 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish-Italian (Italian citizen) poet, author and columnist and former frontman of cult punk band The Christer Petterssons. Birro blogged at Expressen and was a presenter on at ...

, poet, author and columnist *

Peter Birro Peter Birro (born 19 July 1966 in Gothenburg) is a Swedish script writer, poet and musician. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Birro was an obscure poet who performed with the almost equally obscure Swedish band The Christer Petterssons (named afte ...

, poet, author and columnist *

Lydia Capolicchio Lydia Capolicchio (born 7 January 1964) is a Swedish journalist and hostess. Born in Borås, Sweden, from an Italian father and a Slovenian mother, Capolicchio is best known for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, alongside Harald Treutig ...

, journalist and hostess *

Sandro Cavazza Alessandro Michele "Sandro" Cavazza (; born 11 September 1992) is a Swedish singer-songwriter of Italian origin. Besides his solo career he was also a member of the pop group Estraden. He names his musical influences as Eagle-Eye Cherry, Nirva ...

, singer and songwriter *

Johan De Farfalla Johan De Farfalla (born 3 June 1971) is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. De Farfalla was born in Stockholm. He originally joined Opeth in 1991 when its lineup was David Isberg on ...

, musician *

Staffan de Mistura Staffan de Mistura (born 25 January 1947) is an Italian- Swedish diplomat, United Nations official and former member of the Italian government. After a 40-year career in various United Nations agencies, he was appointed Undersecretary of State f ...

, UN and Arab League envoy to Syria *

Thomas Di Leva Sven Thomas Magnusson (born 23 October 1963), known by his stage names Thomas Di Leva or simply Di Leva, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Biography Sven Thomas Magnusson was born 1963 in Gävle, Gävleborg County, Gästrikland, Sweden. At 14 ...

, singer-songwriter *

Jonnie Fedel Jonnie Luigi Fedel (born 22 November 1966) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He serves as a goalkeeping coach for Allsvenskan club Malmö FF. He spent almost his entire playing career at Malmö FF. Interna ...

, former football player * Helena Frith Powell, columnist and author. (Italian mother) *

Claudia Galli Claudia Josefina Galli Concha (born 3 August 1978) is a Swedish actress. Claudia was born in Stockholm. Career She started her career at age three in the segment "Film-tajm" in the television show Trazan & Banarne. Galli got her breakthrough as ...

, actress *

Erik Gandini Erik Walter Gandini (born 14 August 1967) is an Italian-Swedish film director, writer, producer and professor of documentary film at Stockholm University of the Arts. His film '' The Swedish Theory of Love'' premiered at the 2015 Stockholm Inte ...

, film director *

John Guidetti John Alberto Guidetti (born 15 April 1992) is a Swedish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Allsvenskan club AIK Fotboll, AIK. Whilst growing up Guidetti played football in hi ...

, football player *

Bianca Ingrosso Bianca Melina Elisabeth Wahlgren Ingrosso (born 30 December 1994) is a Swedish blogger, social influencer, television personality, entrepreneur, and singer. Career Performances Ingrosso participated in the Swedish national selection for th ...

, blogger, social influencer, entrepreneur, and singer *

Benjamin Ingrosso Benjamin Daniele Wahlgren Ingrosso (born 14 September 1997) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and record producer. As a child, he appeared in the leading role in several musicals, and in 2006 he won Lilla Melodifestivalen with the song "Hej Sofia" ...

, singer and songwriter *

Oliver Ingrosso Oliver Salvatore Gustavo Wahlgren Ingrosso (born 30 December 1989) is a Swedish DJ, record producer, and actor. Career He debuted with a major role in the 2007 Swedish film '' Ciao Bella'' directed by Iranian-Swedish director Mani Maserrat-Ag ...

, DJ, music producer and actor *

Sebastian Ingrosso Sebastian Carmine Ingrosso (born 20 April 1983) is a Swedish DJ and record producer. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia, together with Axwell and Steve Angello. Career 1999–2007: Career beginnings Sebastian Ingrosso entered the music indu ...

, DJ and producer * Pauline Kamusewu, singer *

Marzia Kjellberg Marzia Kjellberg ( born 21 October 1992) is an Italian former Internet personality. Known for her videos on her now-inactive YouTube channel Marzia (formerly CutiePieMarzia), Kjellberg has also ventured into writing, fashion design, and busine ...

, Italian YouTuber who moved to Sweden multiple times before moving to UK. *

Yvonne Lombard Yvonne Lombard (born 28 May 1929) is a Swedish actress. Born in Stockholm, Lombard studied at the Royal Dramatic Theatre ("Dramaten") there, where she trained between 1948 and 1951 with the likes of Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin. She has perfo ...

, actress *

Veronica Maggio Veronica Sandra Karin Maggio (born 15 March 1981) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Born to an Italian father and a Swedish mother, Maggio was raised in Uppsala. After studying music and being the lead member of a band, Maggio released her de ...

, singer * Angelique Magito, opera singer in the 19th century *

Messiah Marcolin Messiah Marcolin (born Bror Jan Alfredo Marcolin; 10 December 1967), also known as Eddie Marcolin, is a Swedish singer best known for his work with the doom metal band Candlemass from 1987 to 1991, and again from 2002 to 2006. He is known for ...

, heavy metal musician *

Michael Nyqvist Rolf Åke Mikael Nyqvist (; 8 November 1960 – 27 June 2017) was a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malmö, he became well known for playing police officer Banck in the 1997–1998 Martin Beck TV series and for his leading role ...

, actor *

Hilda Petrini Hilda Catharina Petrini (9 October 1838, Stockholm – 30 January 1895, Stockholm) was a Swedish watchmaker, clock maker and businesswoman. She has been referred to as the first female master of mechanics of her country. Life and work Hilda ...

, watchmaker in the 19th century * Andreas Ravelli, former footballer *

Thomas Ravelli Thomas Ravelli (; born 13 August 1959) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 21-year professional career was almost exclusively associated with Öster ...

, former footballer *

Paolo Roberto Paolo Roberto (born 3 February 1969) is a Swedish actor, television presenter, restauranteur and ex-boxer of partial Italian descent. During his boxing career, he held several titles. He has starred in several movies and hosted several television ...

, actor and former boxer *

Mauro Scocco Mauro Scocco (born 11 September 1962) is a Swedish pop musician of Italian descent. He has been described as "one of the sharpest songwriters in Sweden". Scocco was the singer for the pop group Ratata (1980–83) transformed into a duo with Jo ...

, singer *

Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...

, ballet dancer in the 19th century *

Roberto Vacchi Roberto Ivano Luca Vacchi (born 28 November 1965, Stockholm) is an Italy, Italian-Sweden, Swedish retired bicycle racing, racing cyclist and a sportscaster, sports commentator on Eurosport. He commentates cross-country skiing (sport), cross-count ...

, former cyclist *

Andreas Vinciguerra Andreas Vinciguerra (; born 19 February 1981) is a former tennis player from Sweden, who turned professional in 1998. He won 1 singles title in Copenhagen; reached the semi-finals of the 2001 Rome Masters and 2001 Paris Masters; and attained ...

, former tennis player * Hans Wahlgren, actor *

Linus Wahlgren Linus Carl Henrik Wahlgren (born 10 September 1976) is a Swedish actor. He is the son of actors Christina Schollin and Hans Wahlgren and brother to actors and singers Pernilla Wahlgren, Pernilla and Niclas Wahlgren. He has also appeared in a few ...

, actor *

Pernilla Wahlgren Pernilla Nina Elisabet Wahlgren (; born 24 December 1967) is a Swedish singer and actress. She has sung in Melodifestivalen several times; her 1985 entry titled "Piccadilly Circus (song), Piccadilly Circus" became popular and successful. She has ...

, singer and actress *

Alexandra Zazzi Maria Alexandra Paula Louise Jademyr Zazzi (born 7 June 1966) is a Swedish chef, journalist and television host. Career Zazzi was in Rapallo, Italy. In 1998, Zazzi gained fame after winning reality show ''Expedition Robinson 1998'' also known as ...

, chef *

Oscar Zia Oscar Zia (born 10 October 1996) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and actor. In 2012, he first came to national attention for coming eighth in the Swedish version of ''X Factor (Swedish TV series), X Factor''. In 2014, Zia finished as runner-up ...

, singer

Gallery

File:Marcus Birro 2010 cropped.jpg,

File:Alexandra Zazzi 1.jpg,

File:Thomas Ravelli.jpg,

File:Mauro Scocco 2012-10-05 001.jpg,

File:John_Guidetti_(2013,_cropped).jpg,

File:Sebastian_Ingrosso_playing_live_at_Ushuaia_Ibiza.jpeg,

File:Alesso_playing_live_at_Ushuaia_Ibiza.jpeg,

File:Anna Maria Corazza Bildt,Sweden-MIP-Europaparlament-by-Leila-Paul-4.jpg,

File:Amelia Adamo.jpg,

File:Maria Taglioni Kriehuber.jpg,

File:Claudia Galli Cannes 2012 cropped.jpg,

File:Veronica Maggio.jpg,

References

{{Immigration to Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...