Leif Leifland

Leif Leifland (30 December 1925 – 3 April 2015) was a Swedish diplomat who served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1977 to 1982 and as Ambassador of Sweden to the United Kingdom from 1982 to 1991. Leifland joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1951 and began his diplomatic career in 1952 as an attaché in Casablanca. He went on to serve in various roles, including attaché in Athens, Bonn, and as Second Secretary in Stockholm, and worked as Assistant Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1970.

He was appointed Minister at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1970, where he navigated a challenging period of strained relations between Sweden and the U.S. due to the Vietnam War and Prime Minister Olof Palme's criticism of U.S. bombing campaigns. Returning to Sweden in 1974, he became head of the Political Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, later serving as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He managed several crises, including the Soviet submarine incident in 1981. In 1982, he was appointed Ambassador to London, where he served until his retirement in 1991. After retiring, he chaired the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education.

Early life Leifland was born on 30 December 1925 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son Sigfrid Leifland, an accountant, and his wife Elna (née Jonasson). He spent his childhood in Jönköping, where his father was an accountant. Leifland received a Candidate of Law degree from Lund University in 1950. He subsequently served as an attaché in Athens (1953–1955), Bonn (1955–1958), and as Second Secretary in Stockholm in 1958. From 1958 to 1960, he worked as secretary for the inquiry on Swedish citizenship as a prerequisite for public service and as Assistant Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He later served as the committee's principal secretary from 1966 to 1970. In 1965, he became a desk officer (departementssekreterare) at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and was appointed Minister at the Swedish Embassy in Washington in 1970. The newly appointed Swedish ambassador, Social Democrat , was declared unwelcome in the U.S. capital. For the next year and a half, Leifland led the embassy amidst an extremely strained Swedish-American diplomatic climate. He later documented this period in his book Frostens år ("The Years of Frost"), published in 1997. Between 1973 and 1974, he served as chargé d'affaires ad interim in Washington. He served as Secretary of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs from 1975 to 1977 and as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1977. As State Secretary, he worked under three foreign ministers: Karin Söder, Hans Blix, and Ola Ullsten, He was interred on 21 March 2016 at Norra begravningsplatsen in Solna.

Awards and decorations

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1982) Member of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences (1982)