Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten (12 November 1921 – 25 May 2006) 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 ...

author and physician, and a member of the Swedish Academy. Gyllensten was born and grew up in a middle-class family in Stockholm, son of Carl Gyllensten and Ingrid Rangström, and nephew of

Ture Rangström Anders Johan Ture Rangström (30 November 1884 – 11 May 1947) belonged to a new generation of Swedish composers who, in the first decade of the 20th century, introduced modernism to their compositions. In addition to composing, Rangström was a ...

. He studied at the Karolinska Institute, becoming a doctor of medicine in 1953, and was an associate professor of

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

there from 1955 to 1973. His first written work, published under the pseudonym Jan Wictor in 1946, was a collection of poetry by Gyllensten and Torgny Greitz entitled ''Camera Obscura'', a straight-faced parody of Swedish

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

1940s poetry. The Swedish Academy biography refers to his "dialectic" prose trilogy ('Modern myths', 1949), ('The blue ship', 1950) and ('Child book', 1952) as the "real" beginning of his authorship."Stol nr 14 – Lars Gyllensten"
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Swedish academy website
Accessed 12 November 2013. His last work was published in 2004. He left the Karolinska Institute to become a full-time author in 1973. He has been described as a Swedish counterpart to Thomas Mann and

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

. Few of his works have been translated into English, French and German. He became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1966, was permanent secretary of the Academy from 1977 to 1986, served on the Swedish Academy's Nobel Prize committee from 1968 to 1987, became a member of the Nobel Foundation in 1979 (serving as chairman from 1987 to 1993), and was an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. Gyllensten left the Swedish Academy in 1989 as a result of its failure to support

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

following the fatwa calling for Rushdie's death because of his controversial novel ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...

''. According to the rules of the Academy, Gyllensten remained a passive member for the remainder of his life.

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External links

Obituary
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The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 17 June 2006 1921 births 2006 deaths Writers from Stockholm Swedish pathologists Swedish-language writers Members of the Swedish Academy Karolinska Institute alumni Selma Lagerlöf Prize winners Dobloug Prize winners {{Sweden-writer-stub Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences