Lars Hans Carl Abraham Forssell (14 January 192826 July 2007) was a Swedish writer and member of 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 ...

. Forssell was a versatile writer who worked within many

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

s, including

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. He was awarded the Bellman Prize in both 1968 and 1981

Early life

Lars Forssell was born in

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 ...

, Sweden, in 1928. He attended a local elementary school called Kungsholms Folkskola, which, at the beginning of the twentieth century, was the world's largest

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

- the school had a capacity of 3,800 pupils, but since not all of them attended school every day, they were taught in shifts and according to the City Museum of Stockholm, the total number of enrolled pupils was over 6,000. He studied in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during the 1940s, returned to Sweden to study for a degree at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () 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. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

in 1952.

Career

While in attending the University of Uppsala, he became a cultural reporter for various Swedish newspapers and journals ('' Utsikt, Bonniers Litterära Magasin, Poesi,

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 A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

'' and ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

''). At the same time, he became established as a lyricist for

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

shows and his own reviews (including ''Två åsnor'' (''A Pair of Donkeys'') which was staged in

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 ...

in 1957). In 1966 he was a member of the jury at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival. During the late 1960s he was among the contributors of a satirical magazine, '' Puss'', in Stockholm. His collections of poetry won him membership of the Swedish Academy in 1971, while his song lyrics brought him widespread public recognition. During the 1970s he worked tirelessly as a poet and as a song-contest lyricist, including writing for the 1973 Swedish

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

entry selection round (

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

) and for performer

Lill-Babs Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers ...

in 1980. He was awarded the Bellman Prize in both 1968 and 1981, the Pilot Prize in 1992, the Litteris et Artibus award in 1993, the

Cornelis Vreeswijk Cornelis Vreeswijk (8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch singer-songwriter and poet who lived and worked primarily in Sweden. Born to Dutch parents in IJmuiden, Netherlands, he emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age ...

scholarship in 1997 and the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize in 1998. His works include anthologies of poetry, books of song lyrics, children's books, plays, operatic

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

s and translations.

Personal life

He was married in 1951 to Kerstin Hane, and was the father of Jonas and Malte Forssell. Forssell died in Stockholm in 2007.

References

External links

The Local: Author Lars Forssell dead
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forssell, Lars 1928 births 2007 deaths Swedish-language writers Members of the Swedish Academy Litteris et Artibus recipients Writers from Stockholm