Erik Axel Karlfeldt

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Erik Axel Karlfeldt, painting by Anders Zorn 1906

Erik Axel Karlfeldt (born as Erik Axel Eriksson ; born July 20, 1864 in Karlbo near Avesta , † April 8, 1931 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish poet and Nobel Prize winner for literature (1931).

Live and act

Karlfeldt grew up as the son of the farmer Erik Eriksson and his wife Anna Jansdotter in Karlbo, Dalarna . However, when a train station was opened in the neighboring village of Krylbo , which caused industry to settle, Eriksson began to do dubious business, which eventually led to his arrest in 1885 for forgery of documents . In order to distance himself from him, his son took the name Karlfeldt in 1889.

Karlfeldt attended a grammar school in Västerås , where he received his Abitur in 1885. Then he studied in Uppsala a . a. History of literature and was a teacher and librarian from 1892 to 1912. It was during this time that his first volumes of poetry appeared.

Committed to neo-romanticism , Karlfeldt found the motifs and themes for his poems in local history, legends, popular beliefs and in the Bible. Already as a schoolboy he wrote poems, and during his studies he published some under pseudonyms in newspapers. However, he only had greater success in 1898 and 1901 with Fridolins Visor and Fridolins lustgård och dalmålningar på rim . He was influenced by Verner von Heidenstam and Gustaf Fröding .

In 1904 Karlfeldt, who was considered one of Sweden's most talented poets, became a member of the Swedish Academy (Svenska Akademien). In 1912 he was also elected its secretary. He kept this post until his death. In 1917 the University of Uppsala awarded him an honorary doctorate .

Erik Axel Karlfeldt died of bronchitis on April 8, 1931 in Stockholm . At that time he was considered Sweden's most popular poet. He was buried in his hometown of Krylbo.

Nobel Prize Ceremony

In October 1931, Karlfeld was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature . To this day, he is the only Nobel Prize winner for literature to be awarded posthumously . The posthumous award provoked criticism, but did not contradict the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, because Nathan Söderblom had made the nomination before Karlfeldt's death.

Karlfeldt had been nominated for the Nobel Prize several times during his lifetime, the first time in 1918. However, since he was a member of the committee himself, he had always refused the honor. Before his death, however, he had already announced his resignation, so that the basis of his concerns had fallen. The jury therefore decided to comply with the request of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Söderblom, who also died in July 1931 .

Selection of works

  • Vildmarks- och kärleksvisor (1895)
  • Fridolin's visor (1898)
  • Fridolins lustgård och dalmålningar on rim (1901)
  • Flora and Pomona (1906)
  • Tankar och valley (1932)

Translations

Two selected volumes of poems (1938 and 1969) and Fridolins Lieder (1944) have been published in German. The latter contains the poems from Fridolins visor and Fridolins lustgård och dalmålningar på rim .

literature

  • Arne Bergstrand: Karlfeldt : music. Dalaförl., Malung 1996.
  • Torsten Fogelqvist: Erik Axel Karlfeldt . Norstedt, Stockholm 1931.

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Karlfeldt, Erik Axel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eriksson, Erik Axel (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish lyric poet
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlbo at Avesta
DATE OF DEATH April 8, 1931
Place of death Stockholm