Mats Hellström, the Swedish politician who served as minister for foreign trade from 1983 to 1986 and minister of agriculture from 1986 to 1991, died on May 24, 2026.
He was 84. A Social Democratic politician, Hellström also held other senior public roles in Sweden, including service as ambassador to Germany from 1996 to 2001 and as governor of Stockholm County from 2002 to 2006.
Born in Solna on January 12, 1942, he studied at Stockholm University and later received Germany’s Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit.
Mats Hellström (12 January 1942 – 24 May 2026 in Stockholm) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician. He was minister of foreign trade from 1983 to 1986, minister for agriculture from 1986 to 1991 and minister of foreign trade again from 1994 to 1996. He replaced Svante Lundkvist as agriculture minister in 1986. During his term as agriculture minister Michael Sohlman was his state secretary.