Erik Boheman

Boheman (right) and King Gustaf V in Paris in 1947.

Erik Carlsson Boheman (19 January 1895 – 18 September 1979), was a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party.

Early life and education

Boheman was born on 19 January 1895 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Ellen Gustava (née Abramson) and Carl Helmar Boheman. His paternal grandfather was entomologist Carl Henrik Boheman. His nephew was actor Erland Josephson. His mother was Jewish. Boheman studied at the Stockholm University College and graduated in 1918 with a Candidate of Law degree.

Career

In 1918, he was appointed attaché to the Swedish foreign mission in Paris, and the following year to London. In 1920, he got a permanent position at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and during the beginning of the 1930s he was Sweden's envoy to Istanbul, Sofia, Athens, Warsaw and Bucharest. In 1938, he was appointed State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and held that position during World War II, up until 1945. During the war he was also Sweden's envoy to Paris, so the Deputy State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Vilhelm Assarsson, had to step in as Acting Secretary on a number of occasions. He was appointed Ambassador of Sweden to the United Kingdom 1947–48, and Ambassador to the United States 1948–58. He was nominated for Secretary-General of the United Nations in the 1953 selection, but he declined the nomination. After World War II, Boheman falsely stated that "ignorant and over-diligent American economic spies" had "accused the Wallenberg group unjustly of having acted in collusion with the Germans" related to Bosch interests. In fact, this group helped cloak Nazi Germany's interests in the United States.

He was a member of the Riksdag 1959–1970 for the Liberal People's Party, the Gothenburg constituency, where he sat in the First Chamber of the then-bicameral Riksdag. He was Speaker of the First Chamber from 1965 until 1970, when the two Chambers merged into one.

Alongside his political mandates Boheman was also chairman of the board of directors of Saab Automobile (1958–1970), Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and several other companies within the heavy industry sector.

Personal life

Boheman was married twice. He was married from 1919 to 1927 to Countess Gunnila Wachtmeister (1899–1992), daughter of the university chancellor, Count Fredrik Wachtmeister, and Baroness Louise (af Ugglas). He married for the second time in 1932 to Margaret Mattsson (born 1906), daughter of wholesaler Allan Mattsson and Karin (née Danielsson). Boheman is great-grandfather to actor Richard Ulfsäter.

Death

Erik Boheman died on 18 September 1979 in Gränna, Sweden.

Awards

• Royal Order of the Seraphim (6 June 1968)

Honors

• Honorary Doctor of Law, Gustavus Adolphus College
• Honorary Doctor of Law, Saint Peter's College
• Honorary Doctor of Law, Augustana College
• Honorary Doctor of Law, Uppsala University (1950)
• Honorary Doctor of Law, Tufts College
• Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1963)

In popular culture

In the Sveriges Television movie, Fyra dagar som skakade Sverige (1988) (Four Days that shook Sweden - The Midsummer Crisis 1941), the role of Boheman is played by Swedish actor Lars-Erik Berenett.

References

Bibliography

• "Tvåkammarriksdagen 1867–1970". Almqvist & Wiksell International (in Swedish). Vol. 4. 1990. p. 66.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)