Stig Bergling
| Stig Bergling | |
|---|---|
| "Stickan" | |
| Allegiance | Soviet Union |
| Active | 1972–1979, 1987–1994 |
| Rank | Colonel (Soviet) |
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| Birth name | Stig Svante Eugén Bergling |
| Born |
1 March 1937 , Sweden |
| Died | 24 January 2015 (aged 77) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Cause of death |
Parkinson's disease |
| Buried | Kungsholms Cemetery |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Spouse |
Marianne Rinman (m. 1961–65) Kyllikki Kyyrö (m. 1965–73) Elisabeth Sjögren (m. 1986; her death 1997) Helena Smejko (m. 1998–2002) (and 2003–2004) |
| Children | 1 son |
| Occupation | Police, reserve officer |
Stig Svante Eugén Bergling, later Stig Svante Eugén Sandberg and Stig Svante Eugén Sydholt, (1 March 1937 – 24 January 2015) was a Swedish Security Service officer who spied for the Soviet Union. The Stig Bergling-affair, one of Sweden's greatest spy scandals, began when he was arrested in Israel in 1979 and in the same year in Sweden was sentenced to life imprisonment for aggravated espionage. He fled to Moscow, however, during a conjugal visit in 1987 after a highly acclaimed escape. Bergling's escape was a major embarrassment for Sweden's liberal prison system and prompted the resignation of the justice minister.
Bergling lived for several years in the Soviet Union, Hungary and Lebanon, before he, of health reasons, voluntarily returned to Sweden in 1994. He continued to serve his sentence until 1997, when he was paroled. During the last years of his life, Bergling lived in a Stockholm nursing home and had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He died there on January 24, 2015, 77 years old.
Bergling's father, who came from a wealthy home in Sala, was an engineer and worked with general insurance at an insurance company. Bergling's mother, who came from a working class home in Falun, had a strictly religious upbringing and worked as a secretary during Bergling's upbringing. Bergling had a younger sister. He was placed in a private school, Carlssons skola in Östermalm, Stockholm, and then attended Östra Real. In 1957, he did his military service as a coastal ranger at the Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 1) in Vaxholm. He also became a reserve officer and advanced to the rank of lieutenant in the "Blocking Battalion Bråviken" where Bergling was responsible for security matters. The battalion had - in the event of war - the task to defend the inlet to Oxelösund and its surroundings.
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