Born to the professorLars Gabriel Branting and the noblewoman and pianistEmma af Georgii, Branting was educated inStockholm and atUppsala University. He developed a scientific background in mathematical astronomy and was an assistant at theStockholm Observatory, but gave up his devotion to scientific work to become a journalist in 1884 and began editing the newspapersTiden andSocial-Demokraten. The latter was official media outlet of theSwedish Social Democratic Party.[2] His decision to publish an article by the more radical socialistAxel Danielsson, a piece denounced by opponents as insulting to religious sensitivities, resulted in political convictions forblasphemy and imprisonment for both men.[3] Branting was imprisoned for three months in 1888.[4]
Together withAugust Palm, Branting was one of the main organizers of the Swedish Social Democratic Party in 1889. He was its firstMember of Parliament from 1896 and for six years the only one.
In the early years of the 20th century, Branting led the Social Democrats in opposing a war to forceNorway to remainin a personal union with Sweden. When thecrisis came in 1905, he coined the slogan "Hands off Norway, King!" The Social Democrats organized resistance to a call-up of reserves and made preparations for a general strike against a war; historians now acclaim this as a major factor in Norway's peaceful independence. In 1908 Branting established a monthly theoretical political journal entitledTiden which is still in publication.[5]
As prime minister, Branting brought Sweden into theLeague of Nations and was personally active as a delegate within it. When the question of whetherÅland should be handed over to Sweden after the independence ofFinland fromRussia was brought up, he let the League decide upon the issue; the islands became anautonomous region of Finland. He was awarded theNobel Peace Prize in 1921 for his work in the League of Nations, sharing the prize with the NorwegianChristian Lous Lange.
Branting died in Stockholm at the age of 64 on 24 February 1925, four months after being sworn in for a third term as prime minister following the SAP's victory in the1924 general election. He was succeeded as prime minister byRickard Sandler;Per Albin Hansson became party chairman, later serving as prime minister from 1932 to 1946.
Branting is commemorated by theBranting Monument in Stockholm. Additionally inGothenburg, there is a tram and bus interchange named after Branting (Swedish: Hjalmar Brantingsplatsen). Stockholms Plads (Stockholm Square) inCopenhagen was renamedHjalmar Brantings Plads in 1925.
^Campbell, Peter (June 2014).The "Black Horror on the Rhine": Idealism, Pacifism, and Racism in Feminism and the Left in the Aftermath of the First World War. Social History. Vol. XLVII. pp. 471–496.
