Nils Ahnlund (23 August 1889 – 11 January 1957) 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 ...

historian. He was professor of history at the then-

Stockholm University College 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, soci ...

1928–1955, and became 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 ...

in 1941. He was the father of physician Hans Olof Ahnlund,

literary scientist Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

Knut Ahnlund Knut Emil Ahnlund (24 May 1923 – 28 November 2012) was a Swedish literary historian, writer, and member of the Swedish Academy. Ahnlund, who was born in Stockholm, was an expert on 19th and 20th century Nordic, especially Danish, literatur ...

and the grandfather of journalist and writer Nathan Shachar.

Biography

Nils Ahnlund was born in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

as the eldest son of theologian Olof Ahnlund and Hilda Svensson. In 1893 his father was appointed vicar in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Ume� ...

where Nils finished his secondary education. Thereafter he enrolled 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 ...

, where he quickly became a disciple of

Harald Hjärne Harald Gabriel Hjärne (2 May 1848, in Klastorp, Skövde – 6 January 1922, in Uppsala) was a Swedish historian. Hjärne held one of the chairs of history at Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public re ...

. His research mainly focused on the time of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

, and his dissertation was on

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

' diplomatic relations. Between 1926 and 1926 he worked at ''

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

'' where he had a promising career ahead of him. However, he chose the academic path and became the first professor of history at Stockholm University College in 1928. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he participated in the public debate, exhibiting nationalist sentiments. In the same period he was a member of the nationalist association Samfundet Nordens Frihet and among the contributors of its magazine, '' Nordens Frihet''. Ahnlund was a popularizer of history and became widely known for his contributions in newspapers and radio, but in academia he was also successful and became, among other things, a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA ( sv, Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or or ) is the Swedish royal ...

as early as 1934 and the Swedish Academy. He was also made a member of several Nordic academic societies as well as vice president of the

Comité International des Sciences Historiques The International Committee of Historical Sciences / Comité international des Sciences historiques (ICHS / CISH) is the international association of historical scholarship. It was established as a non-governmental organization in Geneva on May 1 ...

.Abridged translation from Swedish Wikipedia (https://sv.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nils_Ahnlund&oldid=30265574)

Publications

*Mo och Domsjöverken : deras ägare och utveckling intill 1873. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wicksell. 1917 *Gustaf II Adolf inför tyska kriget. Stockholm: Nya tryckeri-aktiebolaget. 1918 *Storhetstidens gryning : gestalter och händelser. Stockholm: Geber. 1918 *Sundsvalls historia. 1-2. Sundsvall. 1921 *Anmärkningar till handlingar rörande professuren i historia vid Uppsala universitet : sakkunniges utlåtanden och humanistiska sektionens betänkande. Stockholm: Nord. bokh. 1923

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahnlund, Nils 1889 births 1957 deaths Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Swedish Academy 20th-century Swedish historians Uppsala University alumni Stockholm University faculty Members of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy