Birgit Irma Gunborg Friggebo (born 25 December 1941) is a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 politician and member of the Liberal People's Party

Liberal People's Party (Sweden)

The Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006...

. Born in Falköping

Falköping

Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 15,821 inhabitants in 2005.-History:The city of Falköping most likely emerged during the 15th century but earlier the town was an important site of pilgrimage due to its 12th century church...

, she married economics professor Bo Södersten in 1997.

Friggebo was Minister for Planning in the Ministry of Housing between 1976 and 1978 and Minister for Housing between 1978 and 1982. Between 1991 and 1994 she was Minister for Culture (including immigration issues). She was a member of the Swedish Parliament

Parliament of Sweden

The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...

 between 1979 and 1982 and yet again between 1985 and 1997. 1998-2004, she was the governor for the County of Jönköping.

Achievements

• As Minister for Housing, she removed the need for a permit to build small sheds under 15 square meters of area. Such sheds are now popularly known as "friggebod", a pun on her surname, bod meaning shed.

• As Minister for Culture and Immigration, she appeared in a televised debate held in Rinkeby
  Rinkeby
  Rinkeby is a district in Rinkeby-Kista borough, Stockholm, Sweden. Rinkeby had 15,051 inhabitants as at December 31, 2007.Rinkeby is noted for its high concentration of immigrants and people with immigrant ancestry...
  
   on the serial sniper John Ausonius
  John Ausonius
  John Wolfgang Alexander Ausonius , known in the media as Lasermannen is a Swedish convicted murderer, bank robber, and attempted serial killer. From August 1991 to January 1992 he shot eleven people in the Stockholm and Uppsala area, most of whom were immigrants, killing one and seriously injuring...
  
  's reign of terror. During the debate she stood up and tried to get the crowd consisting mostly of non-white immigrants to sing "We Shall Overcome
  We Shall Overcome
  "We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
  
  ". The incident was widely regarded as an embarrassment and a public relations debacle and showed the alienation felt by many immigrants vis-à-vis the centre-right coalition government.