About the Swedish Academy
Foto: Rickard L. Eriksson
The Swedish Academy, founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is an independent cultural institution whose purpose is to promote Swedish language and literature. Much of the extensive work being carried out in this regard has been collated under the portal svenska.se. The Academy also provides support to writers, translators, critics, researchers, teachers and librarians in awarding numerous prizes and scholarships, while also allocating grants to cultural organisations throughout Sweden. Funded partly through litteraturbanken.se and partly through its own publications, the Academy contributes to making our Swedish literary heritage freely available. Among the most famous tasks entrusted to the Academy is to nominate the Nobel laureates in literature, which therefore gives it an important international role to play in the promotion of superlative writing and enriching reading experiences.
The Swedish Academy is one of many academies and learned societies for which H.M. the King is Royal Patron. This publication describes the ten royal academies that were founded to oversee their respective fields nationally: The Royal Swedish Academies »
The motto snille och smak, roughly translated as ‘Talent and Taste’, was given to the Academy by Gustav III himself and may today be interpreted as an indication of its role in promoting creative talent and critical judgment.
The Members of the Academy
It is said that Gustaf III had originally intended for there to be twenty members, half the number of those in the French Academy, but decided on eighteen because that word, in the original Swedish, had a more agreeable ring to it. The Academy itself elects new members by secret ballot, and the results must be submitted for the approval of its patron, the King, prior to publication.
From the outset, writers were in the minority, since most of the Academicians were high-ranking officials. The first half of the 19th century may be described as the era of the great poets in the Swedish Academy, while the latter half demonstrates a significant number of scholars – mainly historians and linguists. The 20th century saw an increase in the number of writers being elected, and these now constitute around half of the members. Upon being admitted in 1914, the author and Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf became the Academy’s first female member.
