Ernst ''Åke'' Kromnow (2 May 1914 – 27 April 1986) was a Swedish archivist, historian and civil servant. He was National Archivist and head of the

National Archives of Sweden , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , seal = Riksarkivet_myndighetsvapen_-_Riksarkivet_Sverige.png , seal_width = 150 , seal_caption = , logo = , logo_width = , logo_caption = , picture ...

from 1965 to 1979.

Early life

Kromnow was born on 2 May 1914 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, the son of director Axel Kromnow and his wife Emma (née Norman). He was secretary in the Swedish National Union of Students from 1937 to 1939 and he received a Bachelor of Arts degree the same year.

Career

In 1939, Kromnow became an employee of the

. He received a Licentiate of Philosophy degree three years later and became first assistant in 1945. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Kromnow was part of the Swedish intelligence agency C-byrån. In January 1946 he and the future National Librarian Uno Willers reported the head of C-byrån, Carl Petersén, to the Supreme Commander Helge Jung due to irregularities committed by Petersén and the agency during the war. Petersén was dismissed from his post the same year. Kromnow became temporary archivist in 1948 and was the leader of the Swedish archives delegation to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

the same year. He became archivist in 1950 and had public research assignments in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

the same year. Two years later he was appointed deputy director and head of the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateralism, bilateral, and multilateralism, multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citi ...

' archive. Kromnow was chairman of the Industry and Commerce Archives Council (''Näringslivets arkivråd'') from 1955 to 1970 (honorary chairman) and had public research assignments in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1958. He was also an archive consultant in the Swedish industry and expert in the 1960 Publicity Commission. Kromnow was a member of the Utility Board for Universities and University Colleges from 1961 to 1965 and chairman of the Personal History Society (''Personhistoriska samfundet'') from 1964 to 1971 (honorary member). In 1965 he left his position at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and was appointed National Archivist and head of the National Archives of Sweden, a position he held until 1979. Kromnow was chairman or board member of a number of boards, committees and foundations. He was chairman of the ''Diplomatarium'' Committee of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA ( sv, Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or or ) is the Swedish royal ...

1965-1976, National Heraldry Board (''Statens heraldiska nämnd'') and Swedish Archive Society (''Svenska arkivsamfundet'') from 1965 to 1979, ''

Svenskt biografiskt lexikon ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' () is a Swedish biographical dictionary, started in 1917. The first volume, covering names ''Abelin'' to ''Anjou'', was published in 1918. As of 2017, names from A to S are covered. Volumes # ABELIN – ANJOU (1 ...

'' 1965-1977, Sweden's Press Archive (''Sveriges pressarkiv'') 1966-1975 and the 1967 Data Archiving Committee. He was board member of the Delegation for Military History Research (''Delegationen för militärhistorisk forskning'') 1966-1982, Archive of the

Swedish labour movement The labour movement in Sweden dates back to at least the 1850s, when Swedish workers initiated the organizing of previously spontaneous food riots into strikes, hence acting as an autonomous group. History Modern types of labour unions emerged ...

(''Arbetarrörelsens arkiv'') 1966-1982, Swedish Emigrant Institute in

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

1966-1979, Board of the

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum ( sv, Nordiska museet) is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said to be ...

1967-1984 (vice chairman in 1970),

Skansen Skansen (; "the Sconce") is the oldest open-air museum and zoo in Sweden located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was opened on 11 October 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) to show the way of life in the different parts of S ...

1967-1984. Kromnow was chairman of Dialect and Place Name Archives (''Dialekt- och ortnamnsarkiven'') as well as Swedish Folk Music Archive (''Svenskt visarkiv'') 1970-1977, Swedish Music History Archive (''Svenskt musikhistoriskt arkiv'') 1971-1981 and vice chairman of Svenska Historiska Föreningen 1973-1975. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the

International Council on Archives The International Council on Archives (ICA; French: ''Conseil international des archives'') is an international non-governmental organization which exists to promote international cooperation for archives and archivists. It was set up in 1948, wi ...

1973-1978 and the National Humanist Research Council (''Statens humanistiska forskningsråd'') 1975-1977. Kromnow was chairman of the State Archives Board (''Statens arkivstyrelse'') 1977-1979, Association of Swedish Cultural History (''Föreningen för svensk kulturhistoria'') 1977-1984 and vice chairman of the government agency National Art Museums (''Statens konstmuseer'') from 1979. He was also expert in the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

1979-1984 and special investigator for place names activities in 1980.

Personal life

In 1970 he married Birgitta Lager.

Death

Kromnow died on 27 April 1986 and was buried at

Skogskyrkogården Skogskyrkogården (; ) is a cemetery located in the Gamla Enskede district south of central Stockholm, Sweden. Its design, by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, reflects the development of architecture from Nordic Classicism to mature Functional ...

in Stockholm.

Awards and decorations

*Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

*Commander of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

*Commander of the Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic

Honours

*Member of the Royal Society for Publication of Manuscripts on Scandinavian History (''Kungliga Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia'') (1962) *Member of the

(1971) *Member of the

Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy ( sv, Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien) in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. The name is often expanded to ("...for Swedish Folk Culture"). The Academ ...

(1975) *Honorary Doctors of

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

(1969) *Corresponding member of the Indian Historical Records Commissission (1969)

Selected biography

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kromnow, Ake 1914 births 1986 deaths Swedish archivists Swedish civil servants People of the C-byrån Scientists from Stockholm Members of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities