in the
Riksdag Karl Albert Staaff was born on 21 January 1860 in the city of
Stockholm. His parents were and Fredrika Wilhelmina "Mina" Schöne. Staaff ran into sharp conflict with the arch-conservatives, and became a hated figure in the
conservative, pro-
monarchic and anti-
democratic establishment. An intense smear campaign was launched against him, picturing him as the destroyer of Swedish tradition and society. Wealthy
Stockholmers could even buy ashtrays which were shaped after the likeness of his head. His staunch anti-military politics, which included a refusal to fund a new battleship for the Swedish Navy, led to the greatest fundraising effort up to that time in Swedish history. A total of 15 million kronor were raised in just a few months in 1912, entirely through public donations spurred on by
King Gustav V, to help fund the construction of what would become the coastal defence ship
HSwMS Sverige. In 1914 Staaff stepped down from the government in protest after the conservatives had summoned a farmers'
demonstration at the Royal castle's court in Stockholm, where King
Gustaf V – who according to law was supposed to stay out of politics – denounced Staaff's defence policies. The contemporary Swedish Liberal party
the Liberals count him as the first among the more prominent leaders of Swedish 20th-century liberalism, followed by such parliamentarians as
Nils Edén,
Carl Ekman,
Nobel Prize laureate
Bertil Ohlin,
Gunnar Helén,
Per Ahlmark and
Bengt Westerberg. Staaff died on 4 October 1915, after a cold he contracted had developed into
pneumonia. He never married. == References ==