Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
Bo Gustaf Bertelsson Carpelan (25 October 1926 – 11 February 2011) was a
Finland-Swedish
Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly a ...
poet and author.
He published his first book of poems in 1946, and received his PhD in 1960. Carpelan, who wrote in Swedish, composed numerous books of verse, as well as several novels and short stories.
In 1997, he won the
Swedish Academy Nordic Prize
The Nordic Prize (''Swedish'': nordiska pris) is a literary award presented annually by the Swedish Academy. The recipient is someone from the Nordic countries who has done significant work in any of the Academy's areas of operations or interests. ...
, known as the 'little Nobel'. He was the first person to have received the
Finlandia Prize
The Finlandia Prize ( fi, Finlandia-palkinto; sv, Finlandiaprisen) is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation to "celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature." Considered the most prestigious ...
twice (in 1993 and 2005). He won the 2006
European Prize for Literature
European Prize for Literature (Prix Européen de Littérature) is a European-wide literary award sponsored by the city of Strasbourg with support from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (France).[Aulis Sallinen
Aulis Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen ...]
. He also wrote the
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
for
Erik Bergman
Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911, in Nykarleby – 24 April 2006, in Helsinki) was a composer of classical music from Finland.
Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bein ...
's only opera, ''
Det sjungande trädet''.
Carpelan died of cancer on 11 February 2011.
He is buried in the
Hietaniemi Cemetery
The Hietaniemi cemetery ( fi, Hietaniemen hautausmaa, sv, Sandudds begravningsplats) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state ...
in Helsinki. He was a member of the Finnish noble family
Carpelan.
Carpelan went to
Svenska normallyceum i Helsingfors Svenska normallyceum i Helsingfors (Norsen) was a Swedish school in the Kaartinkaupunki district of Helsinki between 1864 and 1977. The school was only for boys until 1974 when it became a co-educational school.
History
Svenska normallyceum was e ...
and then studied
history of literature
The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...
at
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...
. He became Doctor of Philosophy in 1960.
Selected bibliography
*''
I de mörka rummen, i de ljusa'' (poetry collection, 1976)
*''Urwind'' (novel, 1993)
*''Berg'' (novel, 2005)
References
External links
1998 Interview with Bo CarpelanBo Carpelan in 375 humanists 28.03.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
1926 births
2011 deaths
Writers from Helsinki
Finnish writers in Swedish
Finlandia Prize winners
20th-century Finnish nobility
Finnish literary critics
Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
20th-century poets
Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery
Opera librettists
{{finland-poet-stub
Swedish-speaking Finns
21st-century Finnish nobility