Krister Wickman

Hans Krister Wickman (13 April 1924 – 10 September 1993) was a Swedish politician.^[1] A member of the Social Democratic Party, he served as minister for foreign affairs from 1971 to 1973, and before that as minister of industry from 1969 to 1971. After his ministerial career, he was governor of Sveriges Riksbank from 1973 to 1976.^[2]

Krister Wickman
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 30 June 1971 – 3 November 1973
Prime Minister	Olof Palme
Preceded by	Torsten Nilsson
Succeeded by	Sven Andersson
Minister of Industry
In office 1 January 1969 – 30 June 1971
Prime Minister	Tage Erlander Olof Palme
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Rune B. Johansson
Personal details
Born	(1924-04-13)13 April 1924 Stockholm, Sweden
Died	10 September 1993(1993-09-10) (aged 69) Stockholm, Sweden
Political party	Swedish Social Democratic Party
Occupation	Politician, economist

Biography

Wickman's parents were Johannes Wickman (1882–1957), a journalist and editor at Dagens Nyheter, and Hervor Mellgren.^[3] While at university, Krister Wickman was a member of the Swedish Clarté League. He graduated with a Candidate of Law degree in 1948 and a licentiate in economics in 1953; he also studied classical languages and philosophy.^[4] From 1951, Wickman was employed at the National Institute of Economic Research. He was a secretary of state in the Ministry of Finance from 1959, and remained there until joining the government as a minister without portfolio in 1967.^[3] He also served as chairman of the Swedish Film Institute from 1963 to 1967,^[5] and was awarded for Special Achievement at the 4th Guldbagge Awards in 1967.^[6]

Wickman was minister of industry from 1969 until 1971, when he became minister for foreign affairs.^[3] Shortly after his appointment, Wickman started working to normalize diplomatic relations with Greece, which had been broken after the 1967 coup d'état and during the following military dictatorship in the country. He also signed a free trade agreement with the European Economic Community. Like Prime Minister Olof Palme, Wickman was openly critical of United States warfare in Vietnam, which led to a freeze in relations between Sweden and the US in the early 1970s. According to political scientist Marie Demker, Wickman's term as foreign minister coincided with a shift in Swedish foreign policy, with cooperation, peace and upholding of international law as central principles.^[7]

After his ministerial career ended in 1973, Wickman served as governor of Sveriges Riksbank until 1976.^[3]

Honors

• Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, 1975^[8]