European led several winter events, despite eczema (5)

I believe the answer is:

swede

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'european' is the definition.
(I know that Swede is a type of european)

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for swede that I've seen before include "A turnip, or a Scandinavian" , "Strindberg, for example" , "Northern European" , "North European" , "Large root vegetable" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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