Carl Lindhagen

Who was Carl Lindhagen?

Carl Albert Lindhagen was a Swedish lawyer, socialist politician, and pacifist.

Carl Lindhagen was the Chief Magistrate of Stockholm 1903 – 1930. His office was more senior than mayor, as it was an unelected gubernatorial and judicial office under the Swedish government, and not the Municipality of Stockholm.

As a lawyer, Lindhagen participated as adviser for the executives of the testament of Alfred Nobel. He was the secretary of the Nobel Committee in 1899. And at times he was suggested as a nominee to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, for his anti-militarism commitments.

Lindhagen fought for democracy, women's rights and better conditions for the working class and working farmers. He was also an advocate for better conditions for the indigenous sami people in northern Scandinavia.

He married the first time in 1883 and his wife died after long sickness in 1902. He remarried in 1904 and had two children with his new wife, Jenny Lindhagen.

Born in Stockholm, Carl Lindhagen studied law in Uppsala. He started his political career in the Liberal party, which in the time before democracy was considered a radical movement.