Anders Österling (13 April 1884 – 13 December 1981) was a Swedish

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

and translator. In 1919 he was elected as a member of the Swedish Academy when he was 35 years old and served the Academy for 62 years, longer than any other member. He was the Academy's permanent secretary between 1941 and 1964, member of the Nobel committee from 1921 and the committees chairman between 1947 and 1970.Westerström, Jenny
Anders Österling, 1884–1981
Svenskt översättarlexikon

Biography

Anders Österling was born in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

in 1884. His father was a newspaper editor and publisher. Österling studied in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

and Lund and after completing exams in literature history, art history and philosophy at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in 1909 he worked part time at the University Library in Lund until 1918. Anders Österling debuted as a poet in 1904 and went on to publish 15 collections of poems over seven decades, his last collection ''Ögonblick'' ("Moments") was published in 1978. As a poet Österling took international influences from British, French, German and Danish poetry and

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

remained a main influence, but eventually his poetry became more Swedish in tone. Österling was active as a critic for 75 years, from 1902 to 1977, initially in Skånska Dagbladet, then primarily in Svenska Dagbladet, from 1936 to 1966 in Stockholms-Tidningen, and then in Sydsvenska Dagbladet. At the age of 80 he had published more than 5000 articles and reviews, and went on to publish hundreds more in his later years. Throughout his life Österling had a particular interest in introducing literature from abroad in the form of articles, translations and anthologies. Österling also wrote plays, biographical notes, travel books and worked as a publisher for Bonniers. He translated works by John Galsworthy,

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

, but primarily he was a prolific translator of poetry, including T.S. Eliot, Hermann Hesse and the Italian poets Giuseppe Ungaretti, Salvatore Quasimodo and Eugenio Montale. Several of the authors Österling translated was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Anders Österling was elected a member of the Swedish Academy at the age of 35 in 1919 and served the Nobel Prize awarding institution for 62 years, longer than any other individual. He was appointed permanent secretary of the Academy in 1941 and remained on the position until 1964. He was a member of the Nobel committee for 60 years from 1921 and the committees chairman between 1947 and 1970. At the age of 97, Anders Österling died on 13 December 1981.

References

1884 births 1981 deaths Members of the Swedish Academy People from Helsingborg Swedish male poets Swedish-language poets Swedish-language writers 20th-century Swedish poets 20th-century Swedish male writers Lund University alumni {{Sweden-writer-stub