Anna Lindh

Ylva Anna Maria Lindh (19 June 1957 – 11 September 2003) was a Swedish politician, diplomat, and lawyer who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until her assassination in 2003. A leading figure of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Lindh was a Member of the Riksdag representing Södermanland County from 1982 to 1985 and again from 1998 to 2003.

On 10 September 2003, four days before a referendum on replacing the Swedish krona with the euro as currency, Lindh was stabbed by Mijailo Mijailović at the NK department store in central Stockholm; she died the following morning at Karolinska University Hospital. She had been seen as a likely candidate to succeed Göran Persson as Social Democratic party leader.

Her greatest commitment was to international cooperation and solidarity, as well as to environmental issues. She worked on these issues throughout her career, serving as Environment Minister from 1994 to 1998.

Early life and education

Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was born to Staffan (1931–2017), an artist, and Nancy Lindh (1932–2005), a schoolteacher, in Enskede-Årsta, a suburb southeast of Stockholm. She grew up in Enköping. At age 12, she became involved in politics after joining a local branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League, becoming its district chairman when she was 13. She took part in the Swedish movement against the Vietnam War.

Lindh studied at Uppsala University, graduating in 1982 as a Candidate of Law (jur. kand.). The same year, she won election as a Member of the Riksdag (MP) for Södermanland County. In 1984, she became the first woman chairperson of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League. Her six years as president were marked by a commitment to international affairs (including Nicaragua, Vietnam, South Africa and Palestine) and against the arms race which characterized the Cold War.