Verner von Heidenstam

Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) was a Swedish poet and novelist, a laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1916. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912. Most of his works are passionate depictions of the Swedish character, Swedish life and traditions, often from a clearly patriotic point of view. He was born in Olshammar, Örebro County to a noble family. He studied paintings in the Academy of Stockholm... more

Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) was a Swedish poet and novelist, a laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1916. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912. Most of his works are passionate depictions of the Swedish character, Swedish life and traditions, often from a clearly patriotic point of view. He was born in Olshammar, Örebro County to a noble family. He studied paintings in the Academy of Stockholm, but soon left to travel longly in Europe, Africa and Eastern countries. His work Vallfart och vandringsår (Pilgrimage: the Wander Years, 1888) is a collection of poems inspired by his experiences in the Eastern travels, and marks an abandon of naturalism then dominant in Swedish literature. His love for beauty is showed also by the allogeorical novel Hans Alienus (1892). Dikter ("Poems", 1895) and Karolinerna (The Charles Men, 2 vols., 1897-1898), a historical novel, shows a strong nationalistic passion. The two volumes of Folkunga Trädet ... less