Anitra Steen

Anitra Linnéa Steen (née Bergström; on 13 May 1949) is a Swedish politician, civil servant and the wife of former Prime Minister Göran Persson.

Anitra Steen
Steen in 2010
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Sweden
In role 6 December 2003 – 6 October 2006
Prime Minister	Göran Persson
Preceded by	Annika Barthine
Succeeded by	Filippa Reinfeldt
Personal details
Born	Anitra Linnéa Bergström (1949-05-13) 13 May 1949 (age 76) Västanfors, Fagersta, Västmanland, Sweden
Political party	Social Democrats
Spouse(s)	Per Olof Steen ​ ​ (m. 1970, divorced)​ Göran Persson ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2
Residence(s)	Övre Torp, Flen, Södermanland
Alma mater	Uppsala University (1971)

Steen held various governmental roles since 1989: state secretary for Persson-led Ministry of Education and then for the Ministry of Finance, as well as director-general of the Council for Higher Education and the Tax Agency.^[1] Between 1999 and May 2009, when she retired, she was the manager of Systembolaget, the Swedish state alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly.^[2] In that role she was forced to cope with a full blown corruption scandal, involving bribery of shop managers and senior staff by some major suppliers, including Vin & Sprit, formerly the producing and importing division of the Swedish state monopoly. Vin & Sprit is now owned by Pernod Ricard.

Personal life

Steen was born in Västanfors, Fagersta, Västmanland. She graduated from Uppsala University in 1971.^[1]

In 1970, she married Per Olof Steen, with whom she has two children; the couple later divorced.^[1] Since 6 December 2003, she has been married to Göran Persson, former Prime Minister of Sweden. Because of her personal connection to the head of the Swedish government, her independence as a board member of Scandinavian Airlines, which is jointly owned by the Scandinavian governments, was put in question by some.^{[according to whom?]}