Georg Branting

Georg Branting was the son of the Swedish Prime Minister and 1921 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Hjalmar Branting. Georg graduated with a bachelor’s degree in law in 1913 and then practiced as a lawyer in Stockholm. In 1917, he co-founded the Swedish-Russian Bank. He was involved in several spectacular political trials abroad, including the trial against Sacco and Vanzetti in the United States. In 1936, Branting was a member of the delegation from the International Law Association invited to attend the show trial where Kamenev and Zinoviev were accused of espionage, sabotage and terrorism in the course of the Great Purge.

In 1927, Branting became a city councilor in Stockholm and four years later a member of the Swedish Riksdag. Against the position of his own party, the Social Democrats, he supported the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War and was one of the heads of the Swedish Aid Committee for Spain. A company of Swedish volunteers was therefore named after him. He kept his seat in the Riksdag until 1961. Rumours suggested that Branting was a paid Russian informant operating under the name “Senator”. George Branting competed in two Olympics, in 1908 and 1912. After an unsuccessful appearance in London, while in Stockholm he advanced to the semi-finals in épée individual and placed fourth in the épée team event. In 1914, he earned his only Swedish championships title in the épée individual.

Branting married Karin Edit Isberg with whom he had one son. After the timely death of his wife, he took Rina Emilia Carlsdotter Lind as his second wife. With the latter, he had one more son.