Lisbeth Palme
Widow of murdered Swedish PM Olof Palme
BORN MARCH 14, 1931 DIED OCTOBER 18, 2018 AGED 87
AFTER the Swedish Prime Minister, Olof Palme was assassinated in 1986, his widow Lisbeth Palme spent much of her later life campaigning for her husband’s assassin to be brought to justice.
Anna Lisbeth Christina Beck-Friis was the daughter of Christian, a civil engineer, and his wife Anna-Lisa. After studying at Stockholm University, she worked as a child psychologist building a career in social work with young people.
Lisbeth met Olof Palme while on a skiing holiday in 1952. Within four years they were married.
A Social Democrat, Olof became prime minister in 1969. To some, he was a controversial figure who wanted to create an egalitarian society, paid for by increasing taxes.
On February 28, 1986 he and his wife went out to watch a film in Stockholm. On the way home a man fired a revolver, killing Olof.
When the police arrived on the scene, Lisbeth famously cried: “Don’t you see who it is? They’ve shot my Olof!” To this day the case remains unsolved, although in 1989 Lisbeth identified Christer Pettersson, a criminal with a history of drug abuse, as the assassin.
He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, but was later cleared on appeal.
At the trial, doubts over Lisbeth’s credibility as a witness were cast by the rumours that she had been prepared by the police before identifying Pettersson in a line-up.
She continued to protest Pettersson’s guilt until he died in 2004.
Lisbeth was appointed chairman of Sweden’s Unicef Committee in 1987, holding the post for 12 years. She was also involved in drawing up the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force in 1990.
She is survived by her three sons.