Margaretha af Ugglas

Who is Margaretha af Ugglas?

Märta Margaretha af Ugglas née Stenbeck is a former Swedish Moderate Party politician. She was Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1991 and 1994.

She is the daughter of Hugo Stenbeck, the founder of Investment AB Kinnevik, and the sister of Jan Stenbeck who took over after their father. She graduated from Stockholm School of Economics and later married Bertil af Ugglas who became the Party Secretary of the Moderate Party.

She fought a bitter feud with her brother over the family fortune and subsequently withdrew from her brother and Kinnevik.

She was an editorial writer at Svenska Dagbladet for five years and sat in the Swedish Riksdag between 1974 and 1995.

After the election victory in 1991, Margaretha af Ugglas became Sweden's second female Minister for Foreign Affairs. Her term included the finalisation of the negotiations leading up to Sweden's entry into the EU.

In 1992, Margaretha Ugglas, together with 9 other Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the Baltic Sea area, and an EU commissioner, founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the EuroFaculty.

The Moderate Party lost the 1994 election and she was elected to the European Parliament in 1995.