Per Erik Wästberg (born 20 November 1933) is a Swedish writer and a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is bes ...

since 1997. Wästberg was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, son of Erik Wästberg and his wife Greta née Hirsch, and holds a degree in

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

from

Uppsala University 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 editor-in-chief of Sweden's largest daily newspaper, ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ' ...

'' 1976–1982, and has been a contributor since 1953. He is an older brother of

Olle Wästberg Olof "Olle" Mattias Wästberg (born 6 May 1945) is a Swedish journalist, politician and diplomat, who formerly served as Director-General of the Swedish Institute. Olle Wästberg was born in Stockholm, the son of Erik Wästberg and his wif ...

Literary work

Wästberg was a member of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

for many years and was a president of

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

. , he is a member of the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

for Literature committee. Wästberg wrote a

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fictio ...

about Anders Sparrman, a Swedish natural scientist, who, according to Wästberg, was the first

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

to study the two African rhinoceros species. Wästberg describes Sparrman as having made significant scientific discoveries and cartography, without achieving fame.

Political works

Wästberg has campaigned extensively for

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. He was President of the

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

from 1979 until 1986 and founder of the Swedish section of

(1963). In connection with this, he was involved in the anti- colonial movement. He was especially active in the struggle against

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, where he became a close friend of

Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great b ...

. He was expelled by the government in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of So ...

in 1959, and after publication of his anti-Apartheid book ''På svarta listan'' (''On the Black List'') in 1960, he was banned from entering both Rhodesia and

. He returned to South Africa only in 1990, after the release from jail of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

. In August 2022 Wästberg resigned from Amnesty International following controversy about one of Amnesty's reports in relation to the 2022 Russian invasion, which in addition to blaming Russia for the invasion also stated that Ukrainian government had a responsibility not to place troops and weapons in civilian locations, to avoid putting them into harm in Amnesty's interpretation of

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pr ...

. "I have been a member for over 60 years. It is with a heavy heart that, due to Amnesty's statements regarding the war in Ukraine, I am ending a long and fruitful engagement," he said.

List of published works

Novels

* ''Pojke med såpbubblor'' (1949) * ''Ett gammalt skuggspel ''(1952) *''Halva kungariket ''(1955) * ''Arvtagaren ''(1958) * ''Vattenslottet ''(1968) * ''Luftburen ''(1969) * ''Jordmånen ''(1972) * ''Eldens skugga'' (1986) * ''Bergets källa'' (1987) * ''Ljusets hjärta'' (1991) * ''Vindens låga'' (1993) * ''Anders Sparrmans resa: en biografisk roman'' (2008)

Poetry

* ''Tio atmosfärer'' (1963) * ''Enkel resa'' (1964) * ''En avlägsen likhet'' (1983) * ''Frusna tillgångar'' (1990) *'' Förtöjningar ''(1995) * ''Tre rader'' (1998) * ''Raderingar'' (1999) * ''Fortifikationer'' (2001) * ''Tillbaka i tid ''(2004)

On Africa and the Third World

* ''Förbjudet område ''(1960) * ''På svarta listan'' (1960) * ''Afrika berättar'' (1961) * ''Afrika-ett uppdrag ''(1976) * ''I Sydafrika – resan till friheten'' (1995) * ''Modern afrikansk litteratur '' (1969) * ''Afrikansk poesi'' (1971) * ''Resor, intervjuver, porträtt, politiska analyser från en långvarig vistelse i Sydafrika ''(1994)

Biographies and essays

*'' Ernst och Mimmi, biografi genom brev ''(1964) *'' Alice och Hjördis Två systrar'' (1994) *'' En dag på världsmarknaden'' (1967) *'' Berättarens ögonblick ''(1977) *'' Obestämda artiklar'' (1981) *'' Bestämda artiklar ''(1982) * ''Frukost med Gerard ''(1992) * ''Lovtal ''(1996) * ''Ung mans dagbok'' (1996) * ''Ung författares dagbok ''(1997) * ''Duvdrottningen ''(1998) * ''

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

s hemliga trädgård ''(2000) * ''Övergångsställen ''(2002) * ''Ute i livet : en memoar (1980–1994) ''(2012) * ''Gustaf Adolf Lysholm : diktare, drömmare, servitör – en biografi'' (2013) * ''Per Wästbergs Stockholm'' (2013) * ''Lovord'' (2014) * ''Erik och Margot : en kärlekshistoria'' (2014) * ''Mellanblad'' (2015)

In English

*'' The case against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

–

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

'' (with Anders Ehnmark, 1965) *'' Assignments in Africa (1986)

References

External links

Curriculum Vitae from the Nobel Prize Committee
first published in Prospect magazine
PEN International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wastberg, Per 1933 births Living people Writers from Stockholm Swedish male poets Members of the Swedish Academy Uppsala University alumni Litteris et Artibus recipients Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo August Prize winners 20th-century Swedish novelists 20th-century Swedish poets 21st-century Swedish poets Swedish male novelists 20th-century Swedish male writers 21st-century male writers Dagens Nyheter editors