Hinke Bergegren

Hinke Bergegren
Bergegren in 1908
Born(1861-04-22)22 April 1861
Died10 May 1936(1936-05-10) (aged 75)
NationalitySwedish
OccupationPolitician
Known forContraceptive and reproductive rights activism in Sweden
SpouseAnna Kajsa Gustafsson

Henrik "Hinke" Bergegren (1861–1936) was a Swedish socialist, anarchist, writer, and agitator. He was one of Sweden's most influential early anarchists.[1]

Early life

Bergegren was born on 22 April 1861 in Kungsholmen, Stockholmn to Evald Teodor Bergegren (a bookseller) and Karolina Hildlberg. He worked as a journalist and editor, going on to be hired as an editorial secretary by Hjalmar Branting at The Social Democrat.[2]

Political life

Bergegren was a leading figure in the Social Democratic party, a figurehead of its anarcho-syndaclist element.[3] Bergegren was active in the Swedish labour movement, supporting striking industrial workers during the 1909 Swedish general strike.[4] Bergegren supported direct action and in a speech at the second SAP Congress in 1891, he argued that social democrats should be prepared for "any violence whatsoever" and that this involved teaching "workers how to manufacture and use dynamite and daggers."[5][6] Bergegren was fined for publicly declaring: “If the officers use violence against us, we will use the same means against them”.[7] His solidarity work also extended to sheltering refugees at his villa in Agneberg.[8] Bergegren's radicalism attracted support among the party's Youth League who gathered around him.[9] As the party leadership moved to the right, Bergegren was expelled, although his revolutionary activism received continued admiration from younger socialists.[10] Bergegren later turned to support Bolshevism.[11]

Contraceptive and reproductive rights advocacy

Record of Bergegren's arrest.

Bergegren has been described as a "pioneer propagandist" for contraception.[12] After Bergegren gave a speech promoting birth control in 1910, the Swedish government criminalised advocating for birth control.[13]

Bergegren's support for reproductive rights and contraceptive access was affected by seeing urban poverty in Hagalund. He gave a lecture titled Kärlek utan barn (Love without children) in Stockholm on 7 April 1910.[14]

"My wish is that all unmarried mothers have the same legal protection as other mothers, that the law against the removal of a fetus should be considerate and mild. But I stress, better than the removal of a fetus is to use contraceptives. The unmarried woman who does not have a home or bread for a child should be protected against the consequences of her actions. This is better than, through tears and regret, placing a child into a difficult, unmerciful life. We must speak loudly about the preventive methods that exist."

The conservative newspaper Nya Dagligt Allehanda was outraged by Bergegren's speech and in an article published on 16 April 1910 the paper described it as "nasty propaganda".[15] Despite being outlawed, Bergegren continued to lecture in support of contraception and reproductive autonomy; more than 50,000 copies of his lectures were printed and sold across Sweden.[16] Bergegren was prosecuted and jailed for his active support for contraception on multiple occasions.[17][18]

Personal life

Bergegren was married to Anna Kajsa Gustafsson (1857-1934) in 1886 at the age of 26, they had no children.[19]

References

  1. ^ Kuhn, G. (2009). Anarchism, Sweden. In The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, I. Ness (Ed.).
  2. ^ Linderborg, Åsa (2001). Socialdemokraterna skriver historia : historieskrivning som ideologisk maktresurs 1892-2000. Atlas akademi, 99-3423719-9. Stockholm: Atlas. p. 533. ISBN 91-89044-78-9. LIBRIS: 8382391.
  3. ^ Cassel, P. G. (2021). Induced Legal Abortion in Sweden during 1939-1974: Change in Practice and Legal Reform.Stockholm Research Reports in Demography.
  4. ^ Hamark, J., & Thörnqvist, C. (2013). Docks and defeat: The 1909 General strike in Sweden and the role of port labour. Historical studies in industrial relations, (34), 1-27.
  5. ^ Gerhard Magnusson, Socialdemokratien í Sverige. Första delen (Stockholm: Nordstedt & Sönner, 1920), 249
  6. ^ Ahn, J. H. (1996). Ideology and Interest: The Case of Swedish Social Democracy, 1886-1911. Politics & Society, 24(2), pg.161.
  7. ^ Schweitzer, C. (2016). What Can Peace Movements Do? (No. 25). Lulu. com.
  8. ^ https://www.arbark.se/wib/soviet-union.pdf
  9. ^ Ljunggren, J. (2018). The Boosting and Moulding of Anger: Swedish Social Democratic Emotional Policy from the 1880s to the 1980s. Labour History Review, 83(3), 247-273.
  10. ^ Soikkanen, H. (1978). Revisionism, reformism and the Finnish labour movement before the First World War. Scandinavian Journal of History, 3(1-4), pg. 350.
  11. ^ Kuhn, G. (2009). Anarchism, S weden. The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, 1-2.
  12. ^ Mazour, A. G. (1964). Michael Futrell, Northern Underground: Episodes of Russian Revolutionary Transport and Communications through Scandinavia and Finland, 1863-1917. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1963. 240 pp. $6.50. Slavic Review, 23(1), 144-145.
  13. ^ "Lex Hinke - lagen som förbjöd information om preventivmedel 1910". Stockholmskällan (in Swedish). 2 December 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  14. ^ Cassel, P. G. (2021). Induced Legal Abortion in Sweden during 1939-1974: Change in Practice and Legal Reform.Stockholm Research Reports in Demography.
  15. ^ Cassel, P. G. (2021). Induced Legal Abortion in Sweden during 1939-1974: Change in Practice and Legal Reform.Stockholm Research Reports in Demography.
  16. ^ Cassel, P. G. (2021). Induced Legal Abortion in Sweden during 1939-1974: Change in Practice and Legal Reform.Stockholm Research Reports in Demography.
  17. ^ Ruusuvaara, L., & Johansson, E. D. B. (1999). Contraceptive strategies for young women in the 21st century. The European journal of contraception & Reproductive Health care, 4(4), 255-263.
  18. ^ Cassel, P. G. (2021). Induced Legal Abortion in Sweden during 1939-1974: Change in Practice and Legal Reform.Stockholm Research Reports in Demography.
  19. ^ "16 blad och lappar med diverse anteckningar. - Dödsattest för Hinke Bergegrens hustru Anna Kajsa Bergegren, född Gustafsson (1875-1934) - ARKEN".

Further reading