Per Ahlmark

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Per Ahlmark

| image = Per Ahlmark, 2005.jpg

| caption = Ahlmark in 2005

| birth_name = Per Axel Ahlmark

| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|01|15|df=y}}

| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden

| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|06|08|1939|01|15|df=y}}

| death_place = Stockholm, Sweden

| office = Minister for Employment

| term_start = 8 October 1976

| term_end = 7 March 1978

| primeminister = Thorbjörn Fälldin

| predecessor = Ingemund Bengtsson

| successor = Rolf Wirtén

| office2 = Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden

| term_start2 = 8 October 1976

| term_end2 = 7 March 1978

| primeminister2 = Thorbjörn Fälldin

| predecessor2 = Office established

| successor2 = Ola Ullsten

| party = Liberal People's Party

| alma_mater = Stockholm University

| occupation = Politician

| spouse = {{marriage|Bibi Andersson|1978|1981|end=div.}}

| monarch = Carl XVI Gustaf

| monarch2 = Carl XVI Gustaf

| resting_place = Katarina Church

}}

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 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, Sweden, as the son of the professor in medicine Axel Ahlmark and the dentist Gunvor Berglund.{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Lagerström, Sten |year=1968 |title=Ahlmark, Per |encyclopedia=Vem är det : svensk biografisk handbok. 1969 |language=Swedish |publisher=Norstedt |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7133-747-4}} He completed upper secondary education at Södra Latin in Stockholm{{cite news |first=Mats |last=Hylén |title=Per Ahlmark 65 år |url=http://hd.se/familj/2004/01/15/per_ahlmark_65_aar/?flik=webbtv |newspaper=Helsingborgs Dagblad |date=15 January 2004 |accessdate=5 September 2009 |language=Swedish |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927014854/http://hd.se/familj/2004/01/15/per_ahlmark_65_aar/?flik=webbtv |archivedate=27 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }} and earned a BA in political science from Stockholm University 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) and as a member of the lower house from 1969 to 1970 (representing the constituency of Stockholm Municipality). Following the unicameral 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 from 1971 to 1976, and as deputy chairman of the Martin Luther King Fund from 1968 to 1973.{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Sleeman, Elizabeth |encyclopedia=The International Who's Who 2004 |title=Ahlmark, Per |year=2003 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=1-85743-217-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/internationalwho2004ond/page/17 17] |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalwho2004ond/page/17 }}

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 Deputy Prime Minister. On 7 March 1978, Ahlmark retired from party politics for personal reasons.{{cite encyclopedia |year=2000 |title=Ahlmark, Per |encyclopedia=Nationalencyklopedin Multimedia 2000 |language=Swedish |publisher=Bra Böcker |location=Höganäs |isbn=91-7133-747-4}} From 1978 to 1981 he served as chairman of the board of the Swedish Film Institute.

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, then the largest daily newspaper in Scandinavia, from 1961 to 1995. From 1997 to 2018 he was a columnist for Dagens Nyheter, the largest Swedish morning paper, and a contributor to Göteborgs-Posten. In his writings he accuses the political left in Sweden of being uncritical towards the totalitarian communist regimes especially after 1968.{{Cite journal |last=Henningsen |first=Bernd |date=1998-06-15 |title=Die europäische Wunde blutet auch im Norden |issue=1 |pages=113–118 |url=https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/8363 |doi=10.18452/7711}}

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.{{cite web |title=Om Per Ahlmark |url=http://www.timbro.se/ahlmark/?page=om |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060722075805/http://www.timbro.se/ahlmark/?page=om |publisher=Timbro |language=Swedish |archivedate=22 July 2006 |accessdate=5 September 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

Ahlmark served as an advisor to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity since 1987, and was a member of board of the Geneva-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 travellers 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.David Andersson, Med skuldkänslan som drivkraft (2017), 179-183 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/mass murder, and famine. 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 (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, Ahlmark described Blix as politically "weak and easily fooled" and a "wimp".{{cite news |first=Per |last=Ahlmark |title=Sending in a dupe to disarm Saddam |url=http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20021101-47209425.htm |newspaper=Washington Times |date=1 November 2002 |accessdate=4 September 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030404170400/http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20021101-47209425.htm |archivedate=4 April 2003}}

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.{{Cite news |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |title=Let the Nobel Go Nuclear - WSJ |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113927966131966843 |access-date=2024-06-05 |work=WSJ |language=en-US}}

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.{{cite news|first=Thomas |last=Manfredh |title=Per Ahlmark ger namn åt stiftelse för MR-frågor |url=http://www.dagen.se/dagen/article.aspx?id=159047 |newspaper=Dagen |date=20 October 2008 |accessdate=1 September 2009 |language=Swedish |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021191333/http://www.dagen.se/dagen/Article.aspx?ID=159047 |archivedate=21 October 2008 }} The stated purpose of the foundation is to "promote scientific research and education in political science, the history of ideas and Jewish history, 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.{{cite web|title=Stifelse till Per Ahlmarks ära |url=http://www.jf-stockholm.org/dokument/stiftelse_per_ahlmark.pdf |publisher=Judiska församlingen i Stockholm |language=Swedish |date=October 2008 |accessdate=1 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105164800/http://www.jf-stockholm.org/dokument/stiftelse_per_ahlmark.pdf |archivedate=5 January 2009 }}

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.{{cite encyclopedia |year=2000 |title=Andersson, Bibi |encyclopedia=Nationalencyklopedin Multimedia 2000 |language=Swedish |publisher=Bra Böcker |location=Höganäs |isbn=91-7133-747-4}}

Ahlmark died on 8 June 2018 at the age of 79.{{cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/per-ahlmark-ar-dod/|title=Per Ahlmark

|work=Expressen|access-date=9 June 2018| date=8 June 2018|language=sv}}{{cite web|website=familjesidan.se|access-date=27 April 2024|url=https://www.familjesidan.se/system/funeral_notices/pdfs/000/961/324/original/1823843-2.pdf?1528870081 |title=Funeral notice}}

Honors and awards

Defender of Jerusalem Award, Jabotinsky Foundation, 1986 (co-recipients: Luis Alberto Monge, Eliahu Essas){{Citation |title=3 Named Co-Winners of Jabotinsky Awards |newspaper=The New York Times |date=12 October 1986 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/12/nyregion/3-named-co-winners-of-jabotinsky-awards.html |accessdate=8 April 2014}}{{Citation |title=Three International Figures Receive Defender of Jerusalem Award |newspaper=Jewish Telegraph Agency |date=8 October 1986 |url=http://www.jta.org/1986/10/08/archive/three-international-figures-receive-defender-of-jerusalem-award |accessdate=8 April 2014}}
Honorary fellow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1992{{Citation |title=Per Ahlmark |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |date=6 August 1992 |language=Swedish}}
Dialogue Award, Norwegian Jews, 1996{{Citation |title=Personnytt |newspaper=TT (published in Dagens Nyheter) |date=21 November 1996}}
Honorary Medal, Danish Raoul Wallenberg Society, 1998{{Citation |title=Namn och Nytt |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |date=30 December 1998 |language=Swedish}}
Torgny Segerstedt Award, Sweden–Israel Friendship Association, 1999{{Citation |title=Personnytt: Pris |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |date=20 November 1999 |language=Swedish}}
Honorary doctor, Hebrew College, Boston, 2000{{Citation |title=PERSONNYTT: Utnämning |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |date=30 March 2000 |language=Swedish}}
Order of Brilliant Star, Government of Taiwan, 2000{{Citation |title=Personnytt: Utmärkelse |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |date=4 May 2000 |language=Swedish}}
Honorary doctor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2002 (co-recipients: Umberto Eco, Steven Spielberg){{Citation |title=Hedrad Ahlmark |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |date=12 February 2002 |language=Swedish}}
Bertil Ohlin Medal, Liberal Youth of Sweden, 2004{{Citation |title=Ungliberaler prisbelönar Ahlmark |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |date=4 January 2004 |url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/ungliberaler-prisbelonar-ahlmark/ |access-date=13 April 2014 |language=Swedish}}
Jan Karski Award, American Jewish Committee, 2004{{Citation |url=http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838459&ct=1124911 |title=Presentation of the Jan Karski Award to Per Ahlmark, Sweden |publisher=American Jewish Committee |date=5 May 2004 |accessdate=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426214943/http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838459&ct=1124911 |archivedate=26 April 2014 |df=dmy-all }}

Bibliography

{{cite book |title=Vår fattiga politik |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1964 |publisher=Bonnier |location=Stockholm}}
{{cite book |title=Den svenska atomvapendebatten |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1965 |publisher=Aldus/Bonnier |location=Stockholm}}
{{cite book |title=Det hatade Israel |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |author2=Hammarberg, Thomas |author2-link=Thomas Hammarberg |author3=Klein, Ernst |year=1970 |publisher=PAN/Norstedt |location=Stockholm}}
{{cite book |title=Sveket mot kusterna : om supertankers, oljeskydd, Östersjön, Brofjorden och riksplanering |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1971 |publisher=Aldus/Bonnier |location=Stockholm}}
{{cite book |title=Överleva : dikter |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1982 |publisher=Bonnier |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-0-045472-9}}
{{cite book |title=Visum : dikter |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1983 |publisher=Bonnier |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-0-045896-1}}
{{cite book |title=Frihet och fruktan : 22 brev |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |author2=Gustafsson, Lars |author2-link=Lars Gustafsson |year=1985 |publisher=Bonnier |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-0-046413-9}}
{{cite book |title=Flykter : dikter |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1985 |publisher=Bonnier |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-0-046717-0}}
{{cite book |title=Zonen : roman |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1989 |publisher=Bonnier |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-0-047734-6}}
{{cite book |title=Vänsterns moraliska skuld |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1991 |publisher=Timbro |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7566-232-9}}
{{cite book |title=Motståndet : arton brev om död och liv |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |author2=Klein, Georg |year=1991 |publisher=Timbro |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-0-055206-2}}
{{cite book |title=Tyranniet begär förtroende |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |author2=Tingsten, Herbert |author2-link=Herbert Tingsten |year=1992 |publisher=Ratio |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7568-029-7}}
{{cite book |title=Det eviga hatet : om nynazism, antisemitism och Radio Islam |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1993 |publisher=Bonnier |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-0-055626-2}}
{{cite book |title=Vänstern och tyranniet : det galna kvartsseklet|last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1994 |publisher=Timbro |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7566-274-4}}
{{cite book |title=Den nya ofriheten : ska diktaturerna pina oss också under nästa sekel? |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |editor=Malmberg, Fredrik |year=1996 |publisher=Ekerlid |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-88594-56-4}}
{{cite book |title=Det öppna såret : om massmord och medlöperi |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=1997 |publisher=Timbro |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7566-326-0}}
{{cite book |title=Det är demokratin, dumbom! |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=2004 |publisher=Timbro |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7566-548-4}}
{{cite book |title=Gör inga dumheter medan jag är död! : memoarer |last=Ahlmark |first=Per |year=2011 |publisher=Atlantis |location=Stockholm |isbn=978-91-7353-470-3}}