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 wri ...
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
. In 1919 he was elected as a member of the Swedish Academy 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, physiolo ...
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 pop ...
and Lund 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, then primarily in Svenska Dagbladet, from 1936 to 1966 in Stockholms-Tidningen, and then in Sydsvenska Dagbladet. 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. He translated works by John Galsworthy,
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 t ...
and
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...
, but primarily he was a prolific translator of poetry, including T.S. Eliot,
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'', '' Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual's ...
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 experi ...
,
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.
Anders Österling was elected a member of the Swedish Academy 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.