Karl Henry Olsson (18 April 1896 – 11 January 1985) was a Swedish literary scholar. He was Professor of literary history and

poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

and 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 ...

Early life

Olsson was born in Köla parish, present-day

Eda Municipality Eda Municipality (''Eda kommun'') is a municipality in Värmland County in west central Sweden, on the Norwegian border. Its seat is located in the town of Charlottenberg. The municipal reform of 1971 saw the forming of the present municipality t ...

in the westernmost part of

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...

. After finishing his schooling in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...

he became a student at

Uppsala university Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in 1914, and studied literature, especially poetry, for

Henrik Schück Henrik Schück (2 November 1855 – 3 October 1947) was a Swedish literary historian, university professor and author. Biography Johan Henrik Emil Schück was a professor at the Lund University 1890–1898. He was a professor at Uppsala Univer ...

Martin Lamm Martin Lamm (22 June 1880 – 5 May 1950) was a Swedish literary scholar. Lamm was the son of businessman Herman Lamm and Lisen Philipson. He became associate professor of literature at Uppsala University in 1908. Lamm was professor at Stockholm ...

, and Anton Blanck. He received a BA degree in 1918, a licentiate in 1921 and an MA in 1924.

Career and scholarship

Olsson's writings and research focused on Swedish 19th century poetry, including the poets

Carl Jonas Love Almqvist Carl Jonas Love Ludvig Almqvist (28 November 1793 – 26 September 1866) was a Swedish author, romantic poet, romantic critic of political economy, realist, composer and social critic. Biography Carl Jonas Love Almqvist was born in Stockholm ...

, who was the topic of his doctoral dissertation at Stockholm University in 1927,

Gustaf Fröding Gustaf Fröding (; 22 August 1860 – 8 February 1911) was a Swedish poet and writer, born in Alster outside Karlstad in Värmland. The family moved to Kristinehamn in the year 1867. He later studied at Uppsala University and worked as a journali ...

, and

Carl Snoilsky Count Carl Johan Gustaf Snoilsky (8 September 1841 – 19 May 1903) was a Swedish lyric poet, known for his realist poetry. Biography Snoilsky was born in Stockholm to Sigrid (née Banér), a painter and countess, and Nils Snoilsky, a Justi ...

. He was particularly interested in the literature of his home province, Värmland: Almqvist had lived a large part of his life in Köla, Olsson's birth place, and Fröding was born in Värmland and wrote some of his poetry in the local dialect. In a book published by Olsson in the 1970s he recollected reading the news about Fröding's death in 1911, which had affected him strongly. In 1936, Olsson applied for the position as Professor of literature at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion He was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1952 and was a 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 ...

for the literature prize between 1960 and 1971.

Personal life

Olsson married Birgit Louise Ekelund from Fryksände in Värmland in 1926. He died in Stockholm in 1985 and is buried at

Skogskyrkogården Skogskyrkogården (; ) is a cemetery located in the Gamla Enskede district south of central Stockholm, Sweden. Its design, by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, reflects the development of architecture from Nordic Classicism to mature Functional ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsson, Henry 1896 births 1985 deaths Members of the Swedish Academy