Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Axel Persson-Bramstorp

24th Prime Minister of Sweden
In office June 19, 1936 – 28 September 1936
Preceded by	Per Albin Hansson
Succeeded by	Per Albin Hansson

Born	August 19, 1883
Died	February 19, 1954
Political party	Bondeförbundet

Axel Alarik Pehrsson-Bramstorp, originally Axel Alarik Pehrsson (19 August 1883–19 February 1954), Swedish politician, Prime Minister of Sweden for a few months in 1936. (As a parliamentarian he was known by his home as "Axel Pehrsson in Bramstorp" or just "Bramstorp" for short, and in 1937 he officially added the farm name to his family name.)

Axel Pehrsson was born in a farmer family in Öja in Skåne, and even though his father's death made it impossible for him to continue school after the age of 14, he later supplemented this with some adult education courses in a folkhögskola. The farm his parents had rented was however of considerable size, and at the time of his marriage he could buy the farm Bramstorp in the same parish, while later taking over the parental farm and several others as well.

While building his agricultural wealth, he was active in local and regional politics and in 1918 became a Member of the Second Chamber of the Riksdag, representing the Liberal Party, but was not reelected in 1921. He later switched to the agrarian party Bondeförbundet (the "Farmers' League") and was again elected a Member of the Second Chamber in 1929 and remained so until 1949. He was chairman of the party from 1934 until 1949.

After the Social democratic cabinet of Per Albin Hansson was overthrown by the parliamentary majority in the spring 1936, Pehrsson got the mandate of king Gustaf V to form a non-socialistic coalition government. This turned out to be impossible and Pehrsson briefly headed a one-party cabinet as prime minister from June 19, 1936 until 28 September of the same year. He also appointed himself minister of agriculture; after the elections to the Second chamber in september he resigned as prime minister but remained as minister of agriculture in the new Hansson cabinet, which was a coalition of Social democrats and the Bondeförbundet. He continued in the same cabinet position in the national coalition cabinet which was formed under Hansson's prime ministership at the outbreak of World War II in 1939 and sat until the end of the war in 1945.

After the resignation of the war-time coalition cabinet, Bramstorp held important position in agricultural organizations, while remaining chairman of his party and member of parliament, until illness forced him to retire in 1949. He was awarded a knighthood of the Order of the Seraphim the same year, and lived the rest of his life on his farm.