Prime Minister
Which position did Arvid Posse hold in Dec 1880?
Arvid Posse Count Arvid Rutger Fredriksson Posse ( 15 February 1820 – 24 April 1901 ) was the prime minister of Sweden from 1880 to 1883 . Family background and education . Posse was born at Rosendal manor in Malmöhus County , as the son of Governor Count Fredrik Posse and Baroness Magdalena Charlotta Bennet . In 1835 he enrolled at Lund University , receiving a law degree in 1840 . The same year , he began as a trainee at the Court of Appeal of Skåne and Blekinge ( Hovrätten över Skåne och Blekinge ) , during which time he worked both at district courts and at the Court of Appeal itself . Later , he was appointed assistant district judge ( vice häradshövding ) and in 1846 a clerk at the Court of Appeal , and in 1847 was made an associate justice at the court . In 1849 Posse left public service and resettled at Charlottenlund Manor and devoted his time to agriculture , enterprise and local politics ( being , e.g. , 1865–68 the president of Malmöhus County Council ) . Political career . Posse began his political career as a member of the House of Nobility at the Parliament of 1856–58 . He was then the Chairman of the Banking Committee ( Bankoutskottet ) . In the Parliament of 1862-63 he chaired the Appropriations Committee ( Bevillningsutskottet ) , where he was a strong proponent of the principles of free trade , which he would remain throughout his life . During this Parliament , he seriously objected to proposed amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government concerning proposed restrictions on the vote shares of larger land-owners . He feared , among other things , that the amendments , if adopted , could undermine the proposed electoral reform . Posse himself , however , did not support the reform . On the contrary , he was one of the most ardent opponents of the reform and predicted at the Parliament of 1865–66 , when he was Chairman of the Committee on Government Affairs ( Statsutskottet ) , that the fatherland would meet with an unhappy future if the reform were carried through . Among other things , he feared the new electoral system would put too much power into the hands of the agrarian interests , who would soon forget the many things that have to live both above and beside them . Notwithstanding this statement , at the first session of the Riksdag<nowiki></nowiki>s Second Chamber in 1867 , Posse became the self-appointed spokesman for the agrarian group , effectively making him the indisputed leader of the new Second Chamber . From this group was formed the Lantmanna Party , which , with Posse as leader , soon adopted an oppositional stance towards the Government . For a number of years Posse remained unquestionably the most prominent and powerful personality in Parliament , even if not the most charismatic . During 1867–1881 Posse was a member of the Second Chamber , representing the district of Herrestad och Ljunit Hundreds , outside Ystad . In 1867-75 he was Chairman of the Committee on Government Affairs ( at the Extra Parliament of 1871 he was the Vice Chairman of the Select Committee ( Särskilda utskottet ) ) . As Speaker 1876-1880 he was in charge of the business of the Second Chamber . He entered government on 19 April 1880 , being appointed Prime Minister , following the resignation of Baron Louis De Geer . Additionally Posse was Minister of Finance from 7 December 1880 to 8 March 1881 . Prime minister and administrative court president . As prime minister , Posse now had to solve the important issues that had been on the agenda since the reform of Parliament . The issues concerned the proposed abolition of both the allotment system and the land taxes ( grundskatter ) as part of a re-organization of the military . The odds seemed to be in favor of success , since it was believed that he could count on support from old party friends , and among the opponents of the preceding governments . Large committees were appointed to report on the issues . At the Parliament of 1883 the Posse Government tabled their proposals . They promised a step-by-step removal of the land taxes , and the tenement and allotment duties . In return the Posse wanted Parliament to approve the Governments proposals to establish a military based partly on permanently drafted soldiers ( enrolled voluntarily and paid by the state ) and partly on conscription . However , the Upper Houses insistence on retaining the allotment system , and , perhaps more importantly , the Lantmanna Partys cutbacks , led to a series of dramas and a defeat for Posse , following which he resigned as Prime Minister on 13 June 1883 . He was then appointed President of the Administrative Court of Appeal , which he remained until 1889 . Political and scientific work . As member of the First Chamber for South Kalmar County 1882–1890 , Posse kept a low profile , but opposed the introduction of grain tariffs during the 1887 struggle between free traders and protectionists . He also expressed his sympathies for a moderate suffrage reform . When speaking in Parliament , Posse expressed himself succinctly and clearly , often emphatically but always with calm and dignity . He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry ( 1879 ) and an honorary member of the Royal Physiographical Society in Lund ( 1878 ) and the Royal Naval Officers Society ( 1880 ) . He died on 24 April 1901 in Stockholm . This article is translated from the equivalent Swedish-language Wikipedia article , which incorporates text from Nordisk familjebok , published 1904–1926 , now in the public domain . Relative . In 1912 , his niece , Sigrid Lindström ( née Posse ) ( 1856–1946 ) , survived the sinking of RMS Titanic as a first-class passenger .