Rolf Hagel

Born Oct. 6, 1934, in Göteborg. Figure in the Swedish working-class movement.

The son of a worker, Hagel is an electrician in the ship-building industry by trade. In 1950 he joined the Communist Youth League of Sweden (later renamed the Democratic Youth League) and in 1951 he became a member of the Communist Party of Sweden (renamed the Left Party-Communists in 1967). From 1950 to 1960 he worked in a division of the metalworkers’ trade union at a shipyard in Göteborg; he was a member of the division’s administrative board from 1953 to 1960. He was deputy chairman of the Democratic Youth League from 1960 to 1962 and chairman from 1962 to 1964.

From 1965 to 1976, Hagel worked in the Göteborg division of the electricians’ trade union, serving on the division’s administrative board from 1971 to 1975. He was a member of the Administrative Committee of the Communist Party from 1959 to March 1977 and chairman of the Göteborg district organization of the party from 1966 to March 1977. After the Left Party-Communists split in March 1977, Hagel was elected chairman of the Administrative Committee of the Workers’ Communist Party of Sweden. From 1966 to 1976 he was a deputy to the Göteborg municipality. Hagel was first elected to the Riksdag in 1976.