Swedish Academy

The Swedish Academy (Swedish: Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.

Contents

History

The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste" ("Snille och Smak" in Swedish). The primary purpose of the Academy is to further the "purity, strength, and sublimity of the Swedish language" ("Svenska Språkets renhet, styrka och höghet") (Walshe, 1965). To that end the Academy publishes two dictionaries.[1]

The first is a one-volume dictionary called Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL). The second is a multi-volume dictionary, edited on principles similar to those of the Oxford English Dictionary, entitled Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB). The SAOL has reached its 13th edition while the first volume of the SAOB was published in 1898 and today (As of 2011) work has progressed to words beginning with the letter "T".

Since 1901, the Academy has annually decided who will be the laureate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded in memory of the donor Alfred Nobel. The Academy also awards the Dobloug Prize, a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction.[2][3]

The building now known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange Building was built for the bourgeoisie. The bottom floor was used as a trading exchange (this later became the stock exchange) and the upper floor was used for balls, New Year's Eve parties, etc. When the academy was founded, the ballroom was the biggest room in Stockholm that could be heated and thus used in the winter, so the king asked if he could borrow it.

The academy has had its annual meeting there every year since, but it was not until 1914 the academy gained the right to use the upper floor as their own for all eternity. It is here that the Academy meets and, amongst other business, announces the names of Nobel Prize laureates. The latter makes it arguably one of the most influential literary bodies in the world.

Dag Hammarskjöld's former farm at Backåkra, close to Ystad in southern Sweden, was bought in 1957 as a summer residence by Hammarskjöld, then Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-1961). The south wing of the farm is reserved as a summer retreat for the 18 members of the Swedish Academy, of which Hammarskjöld was a member.

Current members

See also: List of all members, past and present, of the Swedish Academy

The current permanent secretary of the Academy is Peter Englund, who was preceded by Horace Engdahl. The current members of the Swedish Academy listed by seat number :

Seat Member of the Academy Born Elect. Notes
1. Lotta Lotass 1964 2009
2. Bo Ralph 1945 1999
3. Sture Allén 1928 1980 Permanent secretary 1986-1999
4. Anders Olsson 1949 2008
5. Göran Malmqvist 1924 1985
6. Tomas Riad 1959 2011 active from 20 December 2011
7. Knut Ahnlund 1923 1983 Inactive
8. Jesper Svenbro 1944 2006
9. Torgny Lindgren 1938 1991
10. Peter Englund 1957 2002 Permanent secretary 2009-
11. Ulf Linde 1929 1977
12. Per Wästberg 1933 1997
13. Gunnel Vallquist 1918 1982
14. Kristina Lugn 1948 2006
15. Kerstin Ekman 1933 1978 Inactive
16. Kjell Espmark 1930 1981
17. Horace Engdahl 1948 1997 Permanent secretary 1999-2009
18. Katarina Frostenson 1953 1992

Permanent secretaries

Order Seat Permanent Secretary of the Academy Born Years Notes
1. 11. Nils von Rosenstein 1752 1786-1824
2. 13. Frans Michael Franzén 1772 1824-1834
3. 12. Bernhard von Beskow 1796 1834-1868
4. 5. Johan Erik Rydqvist 1800 1868-1869 pro temporare
5. 15. Ludvig Manderström 1806 1869-1872
6. 12. Carl Gustaf Strandberg 1825 1872-1874 pro temporare
7. 9. Henning Hamilton 1814 1874-1881
8. 11. Bror Emil Hildebrand 1806 1881-1883 pro temporare
9. 8. Carl David af Wirsén 1842 1883-1912 pro temporare in 1883-84
10. 6. Hans Hildebrand 1842 1912 pro temporare
11. 11. Erik Axel Karlfeldt 1864 1913-1931
12. 14. Per Hallström 1866 1931-1941
13. 13. Anders Österling 1884 1941-1964
14. 7. Karl Ragnar Gierow 1904 1964-1977
15. 14. Lars Gyllensten 1921 1977-1986
16. 16. Sture Allén 1928 1986-1999
17. 17. Horace Engdahl 1948 1999-2009
18. 10. Peter Englund 1957 2009-

See also

References

  1. ^ Svenska Akademien (Store norske leksikon)
  2. ^ Website of the Swedish Academy describing the prize (Swedish language))
  3. ^ Doblougprisen (Store norske leksikon)

Other sources

External links

Members of the Swedish Academy

1. Lotta Lotass · 2. Bo Ralph · 3. Sture Allén · 4. Anders Olsson · 5. Göran Malmqvist · 6. Vacant · 7. Knut Ahnlund · 8. Jesper Svenbro · 9. Torgny Lindgren · 10. Peter Englund · 11. Ulf Linde · 12. Per Wästberg · 13. Gunnel Vallquist · 14. Kristina Lugn · 15. Kerstin Ekman · 16. Kjell Espmark · 17. Horace Engdahl · 18. Katarina Frostenson