Count Carl Johan Gustaf Snoilsky (8 September 1841 – 19 May 1903) 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 ...

lyric poet, known for his realist

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

Biography

Snoilsky was born in Stockholm to

Sigrid Sigrid is a Scandinavian given name for women from Old Norse ''Sigríðr'', composed of the elements ''sigr'' "victory" and ''fríðr'' "beautiful". Common short forms include Siri, Sigga, Sig, and Sigi. An Estonian and Finnish variant is Siiri ...

(née Banér), a painter and countess, and Nils Snoilsky, a

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and

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

. He was educated at the Clara School and Stockholms lyceum and in 1860 became a student at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

. He was trained for diplomacy, which he quit for work at the

Swedish Foreign Ministry The Ministry for Foreign Affairs ( sv, Utrikesdepartementet, UD) is responsible for Swedish foreign policy. History The ministry for Foreign Affairs was created in 1791 when King Gustav III set up ''Konungens kabinett för den utrikes brevv� ...

. As early as 1861, under the pseudonym of Sven Tröst, he began to print poems, and he soon became the center of the brilliant literary society of the capital. In 1862 he published a collection of lyrics called ''Orchideer'' ("Orchids"). During 1864 and 1865 he was in

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and

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on diplomatic missions. It was in 1869, when he first collected his ''Dikter'' under his own name, that Snoilsky took rank among the most eminent contemporary poets. His ''Sonnetter'' in 1871 increased his reputation. Then, for some years, Snoilsky abandoned poetry, and devoted himself to the work of the Foreign Office and to the study of

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. In 1876, however, he published a translation of the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s of

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 tr ...

. Snoilsky had in 1876 been appointed keeper of the records (''expeditionssekreterare'') and head of the Foreign Ministry`s political department, in 1878 he was raised to deputy director (''kansliråd''), and succeeded Bishop Paul Genberg as one of the eighteen of the Swedish Academy. But in 1879 he resigned all his posts, and left Sweden abruptly for

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with the Dowager Countess Ebba Piper, ''née'' Baroness Ruuth, whom he married in 1880. Count Snoilsky sent home in 1881 a volume of ''Nya Dikter'' ("New Poems"). Two other volumes of ''Dikter'' appeared in 1883 and 1887, and 1897; ''Savonarola'', a poem, in 1883, and ''Hvita frun'' ("The White Lady") in 1885. In 1886, he collected his poems dealing with national subjects as ''Svenska bilder'' (2nd ed., 1895), which ranks as a Swedish classic. In 1891 he returned to Stockholm and was appointed principal librarian (''överbibliotekarie'') of the Royal Library. He died at Stockholm on May 19, 1903. His ''Samlade dikter'' were collected (Stockholm, 5 vols.) in 1903–1904.

Evaluation

His literary influence in Sweden was very great; he always sang of joy and liberty and beauty, and in his lyrics, more than in most modern verse, the ecstasy of youth finds expression. He is remarkable, also, for the extreme delicacy and melodiousness of his verse-forms.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Snoilsky, Carl 1841 births 1903 deaths Writers from Stockholm Swedish poets Swedish male writers Swedish diplomats Members of the Swedish Academy Swedish male poets 19th-century Swedish poets 19th-century male writers