Carl Lindhagen

Carl Albert Lindhagen (17 December 1860 – 11 March 1946) was a Swedish lawyer, socialist politician, and pacifist.

Carl Lindhagen was the Chief Magistrate (Borgmästare) of 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 .

Born in Stockholm, Carl Lindhagen studied law in Uppsala.

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.

He started his political career in the Liberal party, which in the time before democracy was considered a radical movement. He joined the Swedish Social Democratic Party in 1909, when he was already almost 50 years old. He soon joined the leftist opposition against the party leader Hjalmar Branting. The left-wing was headed by the young Communist Zeth Höglund, and in 1917 the group broke away from the mother party and formed the Social Democratic Left Party of Sweden (SSV).

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.

Carl Lindhagen is known for his work for women's rights, and put forward a number of suggestions for the improvement of women's rights in the Swedish parliament, the most noted being that of women suffrage. In 1902, two motions regarding women suffrage reform were presented to the Swedish Parliament. One was from the Minister of Justice Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, who suggested that married men be given two votes, as they could be regarded to vote in place of their wives as well. The other motion was presented by Carl Lindhagen, who suggested women suffrage. The Hammarskjöld suggestion aroused anger among women's rights activists, who formed a support group for the Lindhagen motion. On 4 June 1902, National Association for Women's Suffrage (FKPR) was founded, which became the start point of the organized women suffrage movement in Sweden.

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