Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) 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 ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

and

laureate In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary awards or military glory. It is also used for recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Gandhi Peace Award, the Student Peace Prize, and for former music direc ...

of the

1916 Nobel Prize in Literature The 1916 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Swedish poet and prose writer Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940) "in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature." Heidenstam was the second Sw ...

. He was 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 ...

from 1912. His poems and prose work are filled with a great joy of life, sometimes imbued with a love of

Swedish history The history of Sweden can be traced back to the melting of the Northern Polar Ice Caps. From as early as 12000 BC, humans have inhabited this area. Throughout the Stone Age, between 8000 BC and 6000 BC, early inhabitants used st ...

and scenery, particularly its physical aspects.

Early life

Verner von Heidenstam was born in Olshammar,

Örebro County Örebro County ( sv, Örebro län) is a county or ''län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hill ...

, on 6 July 1859 to a

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

. Von Heidenstam was the son of Gustaf von Heidenstam, an engineer, and ''Magdalena'' Charlotta von Heidenstam (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Rütterskiöld). He was educated at ''Beskowska skolan'' 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 ...

. He studied painting in the Academy of Stockholm but soon left because of ill health. He then traveled extensively in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and the

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

Literary career

He was at once greeted as a poet of promise on the publication of his first collection of poems, ''Vallfart och vandringsår'' (''Pilgrimage: the Wander Years'', 1888). It is a collection of poems inspired by his experiences in the orient and marks an abandonment of naturalism that was dominant then in

Swedish literature Swedish literature () refers to literature written in the Swedish language or by writers from Sweden. The first literary text from Sweden is the Rök runestone, carved during the Viking Age circa 800 AD. With the conversion of the land to Chri ...

. His love for beauty is also shown by the long narrative poem ''Hans Alienus ''(1892). ''Dikter'' ("Poems", 1895) and ''Karolinerna'' (''The Charles Men'', 2 vols., 1897–1898), a series of historical portraits of King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of ...

and his cavaliers, shows a strong nationalistic passion. English translations of short stories from ''Karolinerna'' can be found in the ''American-Scandinavian Review'' (New York), May 1914, November 1915, and July 1916. The two volumes of ''Folkunga Trädet'' (''The Tree of the Folkungs'', 1905–07) are the inspired, epic story of a clan of Swede chieftains in the Middle Ages. In 1910 a controversy was waged in Swedish newspapers between a number of Swedish literary men on the topic of the proletarian “degradation” of literature, the protagonists of the two opposing camps being

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

and von Heidenstam. Professors Lidforss and Böök also took part. von Heidenstam's chief contribution was the pamphlet, directed chiefly against Strindberg, "Proletärfilosofiens upplösning och fall" ("The Decline and Fall of the Proletarian Philosophy"). von Heidenstam's poetical collection ''Nya Dikter'', published in 1915, deals with philosophical themes, mainly concerning the elevation of man to a better humanity from solitude.

Personal life

He died at his home Övralid on 20 May 1940.

Works

* ''Från Col di Tenda till Blocksberg '', pictures of travel (1888) * ''Vallfart och vandringsår'' (1888) * ''Renässans'' (1889) * ''Endymion'' (1889, novel) * ''Hans Alienus ''(1892) * ''Dikter'' (1895) * ''Karolinerna (''The Charles Men'', 1897–98, novel) * ''Sankt Göran och draken ''(1900) * ''Klassizität und Germanismus'' (published in German, Vienna 1901)Here the author advocates a sort of artistic exclusiveness; Heidenstam appears as the champion of the classic spirit, which he considers essentially aristocratic, as opposed to the Germanic attitude which he considers democratic and reprehensible. * ''Heliga Birgittas pilgrimsfärd'' (''Saint Bridget's Pilgrimage'', 1901) * ''Ett folk '' (1902) * ''Skogen susar ''(''The Forest Whispers'', 1904) * ''Folkungaträdet ''(''The Tree of the Folkungs'', 2 volumes, 1905–1907) * ''Svenskarna och deras hövdingar'' (1910, historical lectures) * ''Nya Dikter'' (1915). Works in English translation * ''A King and his Campaigners'' (1902) * ''The Soothsayer'' (1919) * ''Sweden's Laureate. Selected Poems of Verner Von Heidenstam'' (1919) - (trans. by

Charles Wharton Stork Charles Wharton Stork (12 February 1881 – 22 May 1971) was an American literary author, poet, and translator. Life Charles Wharton Stork was born in Philadelphia on 12 February 1881 to Theophilus Baker and Hannah (Wharton) Stork. He gradu ...

) * ''The Birth of God'' (1920) * ''The Charles Men'' (1920) - (trans. by Charles Wharton Stork) * ''The Swedes and their Chieftains'' (1925) - (trans. by Charles Wharton Stork) * ''The Tree of the Folkungs'' (1925)

References

Bibliography

External links

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...

*
List of Works
*
Works by Verner von Heidenstam
at Swedish Literature Bank (in Swedish) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heidenstam, Verner von 1859 births 1940 deaths People from Askersund Municipality Writers from Närke Members of the Swedish Academy Nobel laureates in Literature Swedish-language poets Swedish nobility Swedish Nobel laureates