Carl David af Wirsén (9 December 1842 – 12 June 1912) was a Swedish poet, literary critic and the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), 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 best known as the body t ...

permanent secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

1884–1912.

Career

Wirsén was born in Vallentuna,

Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally ...

, to Karl Ture af Wirsén and Eleonore von Schulzenheim. He was also for several years, in company with the historian Hans Forssell, editor of the ''Swedish Literary Review''. In 1870, he became a lecturer in Swedish and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at Katedralskolan in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital 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 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

. In 1876 he moved to

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, where he lectured and took care of the museum's library and art collections. In 1879 he succeeded Carl Wilhelm Böttiger to the seat 8 of the Swedish Academy, and moved the year after to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where he became literary reviewer for the ''

Post- och Inrikes Tidningar ''Post- och Inrikes Tidningar'' () or ''PoIT'' is the government newspaper and gazette of Sweden, and the country's official notification medium for announcements like bankruptcy declarations or auctions. The newspaper also carries advertising, t ...

'', and in 1886 also for the magazine Vårt Land. In November 1884 he was appointed permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy. One of his tasks was to direct the work with "fixation of spelling" and the academy's dictionary. The former work resulted in ''

Svenska Akademiens ordlista ''Svenska Akademiens ordlista'' (, "Word list of the Swedish Academy"), abbreviated SAOL, is a spelling dictionary published every few years by the Swedish Academy. It is a single volume that is considered the final arbiter of Swedish spellin ...

'' (''The Swedish Academy's dictionary''), where the modern spelling was represented, in spite of af Wirséns's opposition. Together with Theodor Wisén and Esaias Tegnér Jr., he tried to obstruct the publication. In December 1883, he was appointed member of The Hymn Book committee of the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

, which had the task of "preparing, with discretion, a new proposal for hymnbook". The result was the edition of 1889. He was appointed member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in 1905.

Poetry

Wirsén made his debut as a poet under the signature Kuno, first in the student's calendar ''Isblomman'' (1861) and in Namnlösa sällskapet's first publication ''Sånger och berättelser af nio signaturer'' ("Songs and tales by nine signatures", 1863). After that, it lasted until the mourning memorial in

in 1872 after the

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

of king

Charles XV of Sweden Charles XV or Carl (''Carl Ludvig Eugen''; Swedish language, Swedish and Norwegian language, Norwegian officially: ''Karl''; 3 May 1826 – 18 September 1872) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway, there often referred to as C ...

, for whom he wrote''Sång till minne af konung Carl XV'' ("Song commemorating king Charles XV"). After several romantic poems in the monthly ''Nu'', he published his first collection ''Dikter'' (poems) in 1876. It was followed by other collections of poetry. His Christian faith was expressed in several ways in his works, including hymns and spiritual poems, of which probably the best known is the summer hymn '' En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt''.

Criticism

af Wirsen's conservative views and an abundant publication of his literary criticism made him well-known but also provoked opposition, sometimes in harsh words, by his opponents, who represented new ideas with spelling reform and a freer style. According to his view, "the task of poetry is to discover the absolute, supersensual content, which is the foundation of the phenomena of the material world. The calling of the poet is a priesthood of light, he should in poetry reveal a higher world of purity and

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

..." As a critic, Wirsén found a hearing among many educated men, but not much connection with the young literature, and he has become notorious for his many negative reviews of

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 60 pla ...

Verner von Heidenstam Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) was a Swedish poet, novelist and laureate of the 1916 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912. His poems and prose work are filled with a great j ...

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was ...

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

and many others. His central position as permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy - the institution which started to award the Nobel prize of literature in 1901 - also gave him considerable influence on the choice of laureate in the first years; for instance, he was long able to exclude

from the award, by year after year persuading a majority of the academy members to vote for alternative candidates, often nominated by himself."Våldsam debatt i Akademien när Lagerlöf valdes"
artikel i

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

, 25 September 2009.

Selected works

Poetry

* ''Dikter'' (''Poems''), first collection (1876) * ''Nya dikter'' (''New poems''), second collection (1880) * ''Sånger och bilder'' (''Songs and images'') (1884) * ''Vintergrönt'' (''Winter green'') (1890) * ''Toner och sägner'' (1893) * ''Under furor och cypresser'' (1896), med dikter som ''Spinoza'', ''Septemberdag vid Bellmans byst'' * ''Visor, romanser och ballader'' (1899)

Historical literature biographies

* ''Inträdestal i Svenska akademien'' över (sin företrädare) C.W. Böttiger (1880) * ''Minne av riksmarskalken greve

Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna Count Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna (19 July 1750 – 29 July 1818) is considered one of the foremost Sweden, Swedish poets of the History of Sweden (1772–1809), Gustavian period. A prominent courtier during the reign of King Gustav III of Sweden, ...

'' (1885) * ''Minne av biskopen doktor

Frans Michael Franzén Frans Michael Franzén (9 February 1772 – 14 August 1847) was a Swedish people, Swedish-Finland, Finnish poet and clergyman. He served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Härnösand. Biography Franzén was born in Oulu (), Northern Ostrobothnia ...

'' (1886) * ''Minne av skalden Karl August Nicander'' (1886) * ''Minne av friherre Bernhard von Beskow'' (1897) * ''Minnesruna över professor A.J. Ångström'' (1875)

Hymns

* En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt (1986) written in 1889 *Det går ett tyst och tåligt lamm (1921) *Det är så tyst, han kämpat ut ''(Sånger och psalmer 1951)'' written in 1889. *Herren är tillstädes (''Kyrklig sång 1928'' nr 25 b.) *I livets bok, o Fader, skriv (1921) *Jag nu den säkra grunden vunnit (1921) *Nu dagen är till ända (1986)

Hymn books

* ''Andliga Sånger'' (1898), samlingsverk. * ''Från Betlehem till Golgata'' (1882), andliga sånger * ''Vid juletid'' (1887), psalmer * ''I livets vår'' (1888) * ''Kristna högtids- och helgdagar'' (1889), sånger och psalmer

Misc

* ''Studier rörande reformerna inom den franska vitterheten under sextonde och nittonde seklen'' (''Studies concerning the reforms in the French literature of the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries'') (1868) * Utgav och skrev en biografisk inledning till E. Björcks "Valda dikter" (1869) * Inledning till D. Klockhoffs "Efterlemnade skrifter" (1871). * ''Prolog vid sällskapsspektaklet till förmån för skandinavisk-etnografiska samlingen'' (1879) * ''Vid tvåhundraårsfesten till Calderons minne'' (1881) * ''Sång över Esaias Tegnér'' (1882) * ''Rafael'' (1883) * ''Sång vid Svenska akademiens hundraårsfest'' (1886) * ''Claes Livijn, ett självständigt bidrag till forskningen över Nya skolan''.

References

External links

Runenberg

"Violent Debate in the Academy When Lagerlöf Was Elected"
article in the daily Swedish newspaper ''

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wirsen, Carl David af 1842 births 1912 deaths People from Vallentuna Municipality Members of the Swedish Academy Swedish male poets 19th-century Swedish poets 19th-century Swedish male writers Burials at Uppsala old cemetery Knights of the Order of Charles XIII