Sven Fredrik Hedin

Sven Fredrik Hedin (6 November 1923 – 2 January 2004) was a Swedish diplomat. Hedin joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm as an attaché in 1949 and served the following 40 years in many countries, including as ambassador in Dar es Salaam, Buenos Aires and Rome.

Career

Hedin was born in Sunne, Sweden, the son of merchant Nathanael Hedin and Anna Palm. He was a business student in Stockholm in 1942 and served at the Swedish consulate in Prague from 1942 to 1944 and at the Swedish legation in Mexico City in 1944.[1] Hedin studied at the Stockholm University College from 1947 to 1951 and served at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1948 before becoming an attaché in 1949. He served at the Swedish legations in Madrid in 1951 and in Oslo in 1953.[1] Hedin served as temporary legation secretary in Oslo in 1954 and in Narvik the same year and at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm from 1955 to 1958. He was secretary in Swedish delegation of the Nordic Parliamentary Committee for Freer Social Affairs (Nordiska parlamentariska kommittén för friare samfärdsel) from 1956 to 1957 and deputy secretary in the Swedish delegation of the Nordic Council from 1956 to 1958.[1]

Hedin then served as second legation secretary in Rio de Janeiro in 1958, first legation secretary from 1959 to 1962 and first legation secretary at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations in 1963. He was embassy counselor there from 1964 to 1965[2] and Deputy Director at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm and head of its Financial Agency (Ekonomibyrå) in 1966.[3] Hedin was then ambassador in Dar es Salaam from 1968 to 1973 and non-resident ambassador in Mogadishu from 1971 to 1973. Hedin was ambassador in Buenos Aires from 1973 to 1975 and served as Chief of Protocol at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm from 1975 to 1979. He was then ambassador in Lisbon from 1979 to 1986 and non-resident ambassador in Bissau and Praia from 1979 to 1986. His last diplomatic post abroad was as ambassador in Rome from 1986 to 1989. Back in Sweden, Hedin served as Deputy Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps (Introduktör av främmande sändebud) from 1990 to 1993.[2][4]

During his diplomatic career, Hedin was in Moscow to discuss Swedes that were supposed to have disappeared in the Soviet Union, such as the crew on the shot down DC 3 in 1952 and the boat crew of Bengt Sture in 1942. Hedin was also in West Germany among returning prisoners of war whom he interviewed to track any Swedes in Gulag. He mastered six languages in addition to his mother tongue.[5] Hedin was chairman of the Skandia Real Estate Company in Lisbon from 1990.[2] He was a member of the Swedish Publicists' Association[1] and after retirement, he participated frequently in the public debate with high-profile posts.[4] Hedin was an expert in a commission called by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to clarify what might have happened in Sweden regarding property of Jewish origin brought here in connection with the Jewish persecution before and during World War II. On 14 December 1998, Hedin was relieved at his own request from his assignment in this commission.[6] Together with journalist Göran Elgemyr, Hedin presented documents that highlighted the Swedish Central Bank's transactions with the so-called Nazi gold. For that work, Hedin and Elgemyr were awarded the Guldspaden for investigative journalism in 1998.[7]

Personal life

In 1951 Hedin married Britt-Marie Huss, the daughter of Professor Ragnar Huss and Dorrith Brunnel. He was the father of Jockum (born 1952) and Cecilia (born 1952).[1] Hedin died on 2 January 2004 and was buried at Galärvarvskyrkogården in Stockholm on 19 May 2004.[8]

Awards and decorations

• Knight of the Order of St. Olav[1]
• Knight of the Order of the Lion of Finland[1]
• Knight of the Order of Civil Merit[1]

Bibliography

• Hedin, Sven Fredrik (1997). Sweden and the Shoah: the untold chapters. Policy study, 0793-260X ; no. 11. Jerusalem: Institute of the World Jewish Congress. SELIBR 9823395.

References

1. Harnesk, Paul, ed. (1962). Vem är vem? 1, Stor-Stockholm [Who's Who? 1, Greater Stockholm] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Vem är vem. p. 531. SELIBR 53509.
2. Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 456. ISBN 91-1-914072-X. SELIBR 8261513.
3. Lagerström, Sten, ed. (1966). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1967 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1967] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 362. SELIBR 3681518.
4. Mårtenson, Jan (2004-02-12). "Sven Fredrik Hedin. "Grävande" ambassadör avtäckte svensk historia" [Sven Fredrik Hedin. "Investigative" ambassador unveiled Swedish history]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 September 2017.
5. Wolf, Hans (1998-11-05). "DN gratulerar: Diplomat med spårsinne" [DN congratulates: Diplomat with traking mind]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 September 2017.
6. Sverige. Kommissionen om judiska tillgångar i Sverige vid tiden för andra världskriget (1999). Sverige och judarnas tillgångar: slutrapport (PDF). Statens offentliga utredningar, 0375-250X ; 1999:20 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fakta info direkt. ISBN 91-7610-925-9. SELIBR 2794231. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2013.
7. "Dödsfall i Sverige". Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish). 10 February 2004. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
8. "Hedin, Sven Fredrik". www.svenskagravar.se (in Swedish). SvenskaGravar. Retrieved 6 September 2017.