Anders Österling (13 April 1884 – 13 December 1981) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

. In 1919 he was elected as a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

when he was 35 years old and served the Academy for 62 years, longer than any other member. He was the Academy's permanent secretary between 1941 and 1964, member of the

Nobel committee A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize. Four of these committees (for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiolog ...

from 1921 and the committees chairman between 1947 and 1970.Westerström, Jenny
Anders Österling, 1884–1981
Svenskt översättarlexikon

Biography

Anders Österling was born in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

in 1884. His father was a newspaper editor and publisher. Österling studied in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

and

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

and after completing exams in literature history, art history and philosophy at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion University Library in Lund until 1918. Anders Österling debuted as a poet in 1904 and went on to publish 15 collections of poems over seven decades, his last collection ''Ögonblick'' ("Moments") was published in 1978. As a poet Österling took international influences from British, French, German and Danish poetry and

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

remained a main influence, but eventually his poetry became more Swedish in tone. Österling was active as a critic for 75 years, from 1902 to 1977, initially in

Skånska Dagbladet ''Skånska Dagbladet'' is a newspaper based in Malmö, Sweden, that has been in circulation since 1888. History and profile ''Skånska Dagbladet'' was established in 1888, and its headquarters is in Malmö. The Skånska Dagbladet AB is the pub ...

, then primarily in

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

, from 1936 to 1966 in

Stockholms-Tidningen ''Stockholms-Tidningen'' (Swedish: ''The Stockholm Times'') was a Swedish-language morning newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden, between 1889 and 1984 with an interruption from 1966 to 1981. It was one of the major dailies in the country tog ...

, and then in

Sydsvenska Dagbladet ''Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snällposten'', generally known simply as ''Sydsvenskan'' (, ''The South Swedish''), is a daily newspaper published in Scania in Sweden. History and profile ''Sydsvenskan'' was founded in 1870. In 1871 the paper merged ...

. At the age of 80 he had published more than 5000 articles and reviews, and went on to publish hundreds more in his later years. Throughout his life Österling had a particular interest in introducing literature from abroad in the form of articles, translations and anthologies. Österling also wrote plays, biographical notes, travel books and worked as a publisher for

Bonniers Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a privately held Swedish media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in 1804 by Gerhard Bonnier in Copenhagen, Denm ...

. He translated works by

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize i ...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

, but primarily he was a prolific translator of poetry, including

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

and the Italian poets

Giuseppe Ungaretti Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experim ...

Salvatore Quasimodo Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...

and

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and works Early years Montale was born in Genoa. His family were che ...

. Several of the authors Österling translated was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

. Anders Österling was elected a member of the

at the age of 35 in 1919 and served the Nobel Prize awarding institution for 62 years, longer than any other individual. He was appointed permanent secretary of the Academy in 1941 and remained on the position until 1964. He was a member of the Nobel committee for 60 years from 1921 and the committees chairman between 1947 and 1970. At the age of 97, Anders Österling died on 13 December 1981.

References

1884 births 1981 deaths Members of the Swedish Academy People from Helsingborg Swedish male poets Swedish-language poets Swedish-language writers 20th-century Swedish poets 20th-century Swedish male writers {{Sweden-writer-stub