Gunnar Lange
 Gunnar Lange    (politician) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Gunnar Lange (right) greets Schleswig-Holstein's Premier Kai-Uwe von Hassel at an event at the Chamber of Commerce in Kiel in 1957. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 March 1909 Stockholm, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 16 September 1976 (Age 67) Bromma, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Swedish | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Stockholm University | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Swedish Social Democratic Party | ||||||||||||||||||||
Swedish Social Democrat politician and Minister of Trade 1955-1970. He attended the 1962 Bilderberg meeting.
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Nils Gunnar Lange was a Swedish Social Democrat politician and Minister of Trade 1955-1970.[1] He attended the 1962 Bilderberg meeting.
Background
Gunnar Lange's background was a middle-class family moving up the social ladder, the son of Chancellor Nils Lange and Magda Lovisa Boije. He grew up in Mörby villa community, whose residents at that time were largely made up of well-situated civil servant families and where the father was active in municipal politics for the right.
When Lange already in the late 1920s as a newly minted student professed socialist ideas, this was probably largely rooted in emotional factors. When Lange began his studies at Stockholm College majoring in economics, he also entered a circle of politically like-minded peers. The gathering point for these was the left wing Clarté. Lange was for a few years a member of Stockholm 's Clarté section and devoted a lot of time to its activities, which included large discussion meetings at the college. He was at the same time an organized social democrat, but Clarté was his real political residence during his student years. There he found an outlet for his then and later deepest interest, politics, but did not carry any heavier ballast of socialist theory and doctrine with him. It was the politics of the day and the practical solution of immediate goals that completely occupied him.[1]
Early career
In 1935 he worked at the agricultural board, also as an actuary. In the same year that he was appointed to the Board of Agriculture, he became an assistant to the head of the Department of Agriculture.
He received a research grant from the Rockerfeller Foundation for studies of American agricultural economics and politics 38–39. In 1941 he took a doctorate and then got a position at the University of North Carolina as a senior lecturer in agriculture and economics.
In 1943 he was back in Sweden, and became bureau chief at the Food Commission. From 1946 he was back at the Department of Agriculture as Secretary of State, and at the Treasury from 1950.
Politics
On November 29, 1954, Lange was appointed Minister of State and head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, responsible for dealing with local councils, and stayed there for just under a year, until September 12, 1955, when he was given the same position in the Ministry of Commerce. He was Sweden's Minister of Trade until 9 October 1970, when he was succeeded by Kjell-Olof Feldt. Lange was a Member of Parliament 1953-1976. 1953–1968 he was chairman of the Swedish Football Association.
During his time as Minister of Trade, Lange played a major role in the creation of the EFTA Free Trade Organization, where he chaired the Council of Ministers in 1959–1960, 1963 and 1967.
He led the management of the board of the Wallenberg Sphere Scandinavian Enskilda Banken from 71.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1962 | 18 May 1962 | 20 May 1962 | Sweden Saltsjöbaden | The 11th Bilderberg meeting and the first one in Sweden. |
