Peter Englund

2025-07-28T11:27:12Z

176.10.144.225: update of numbers - sourced in Swedish national bibligraphy LIBRIS

{{Short description|Swedish author and historian}}
{{for|the economist and professor of finance at the Stockholm School of Economics|Peter Englund (economist)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter Englund
| image = Peter Englund SA 2013.jpg
| image_size = 220
| caption = Peter Englund in 2013
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|04|04|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Boden, Sweden|Boden]], Sweden
| occupation = author and historian; former Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy
| known_for =
| children = 5
| alma_mater = [[Uppsala University]] (Ph.D.)
| awards = [[Augustpriset|August Prize]] (1993) [[Selma Lagerlöf Prize for Literature]] (2002)
| website = {{URL|http://www.peterenglund.com/}}
| module = {{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office = [[Swedish Academy|Member of the Swedish Academy]] (Seat No. 10)
| termstart = 20 December 2002
| termend =
| predecessor = [[Erik Lönnroth]]
| successor =
| name =
| office2 = [[Swedish Academy|Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy]]
| termstart2 = June 2009
| termend2 = May 2015
| predecessor2 = [[Horace Engdahl]]
| successor2 = [[Sara Danius]]
}}
}}
[[File:Patrick Modiano 6 dec 2014 - 18.jpg|thumb|right|270px|[[Patrick Modiano]] and Peter Englund 2014.]]
'''Peter Mikael Englund''' (born 4 April 1957) is a Swedish author and [[historian]]. He focuses on writing [[non-fiction]] books and essays, mostly about the [[Swedish Empire]] and other historical events. Englund is known for his accessible writing style, which includes narrative details that are often left out in traditional history books. His works have been translated into 20 languages. From 2009 to 2015, Englund served as the permanent secretary of the [[Swedish Academy]], before being succeeded by [[Sara Danius]].<ref name="ac_bio">{{cite web|year=2015|title=Peter Englund's Biography at the Website of the Swedish Academy|author=Jan Arnald|location=Stockholm|publisher=[[Swedish Academy|The Swedish Academy]]|url=http://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/the_academy/members/peter_englund_2|access-date=3 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706022321/http://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/the_academy/members/peter_englund_2|archive-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> In January 2019, he and fellow academy member [[Kjell Espmark]] announced their return as active members of the Swedish academy,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=478&artikel=7129166|title=Espmark och Englund återvänder till Akademien – Kulturnytt i P1|last=Radio|first=Sveriges|website=sverigesradio.se|language=sv|access-date=10 January 2019}}</ref> where they had been inactive since April 2018.<ref name="dn-lämnar" />

==Biography==
Englund was born in [[Boden, Sweden|Boden]] and studied a preparatory course for the caring professions for two years and then humanistic subjects for another two years in secondary school. He was then conscripted and served 15 months in the [[Swedish Army]] at the [[Norrbotten Regiment]] located in Boden. He was politically active in his youth and supported the [[National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam]].

Englund studied [[archaeology]], [[history]], and theoretical [[philosophy]] at [[Uppsala University]], completing a [[bachelor's degree]] in 1983, after which he began doctoral studies in History. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1989 for his dissertation ''Det hotade huset'' (English title in the dissertation abstract: ''A House in Peril'') (1989), an investigation of the worldview of the 17th-century Swedish nobility. During his period as a doctoral student, he had also worked for some time for the [[Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service]] ("MUST"), and the year before receiving his doctorate he had published the bestselling ''Poltava'', a detailed description of the [[Battle of Poltava]], where the troops of Swedish king [[Charles XII of Sweden|Charles XII]] were defeated by the Russian army of [[Peter I of Russia|Tsar Peter I]] in 1709.

Englund has received the [[Augustpriset|August Prize]] (1993) and the [[Selma Lagerlöf Prize for Literature]] (2002). He was elected a member of the [[Swedish Academy]] in 2002. On 1 June 2009, he succeeded [[Horace Engdahl]] as the permanent secretary of the Academy.

In 2009, Englund "criticized the jury panel as being too '[[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]]'" and "told the Associated Press that it was easier for Europeans to relate to European literature". "It’s the result of psychological bias that we really try to be aware of," Englund was quoted as saying.<ref>[[Motoko Rich|Rich, Motoko]], and [[Nicholas Kulish]], [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/books/09nobel.html "Herta Müller Wins Nobel Prize in Literature"], ''NY Times'', 8 October 2009.</ref> In December 2014, he announced his retirement from the post of secretary of the Swedish Academy.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lindahl|first1=Charlotte|title=Peter Englund slutar som ständig sekreterare i Svenska Akademien|url=http://www.svt.se/kultur/bok/peter-englund-slutar-som-standig-sekreterare-i-svenska-akademien|access-date=20 December 2014|publisher=[[Sveriges Television|SVT]]|language=sv}}</ref> On 1 June 2015, [[Sara Danius]] succeeded Peter Englund as permanent secretary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/the-academy/chair-no-7-sara-danius |title=Chair no. 7 – Sara Danius |publisher=Swedish Academy |access-date=6 April 2018 }}</ref>

On 6 April 2018, Englund announced that he would no longer participate in the Academy's work. On the same day, [[Klas Östergren]] and [[Kjell Espmark]] also declared that they would become inactive members of the Academy.<ref name="dn-lämnar">{{cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/klas-ostergren-lamnar-svenska-akademien/ |title=Klas Östergren, Kjell Espmark och Peter Englund lämnar Svenska Akademien |newspaper={{Lang|sv|[[Dagens Nyheter]]}} |date=6 April 2018 |access-date=6 April 2018 }}</ref>

On 10 January 2019, Englund announced on his blog that he and fellow Academy member Kjell Espmark would be returning as active members of the Academy. He stated that continued work to renew the Academy has now reached a point that it must be done from within.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://peterenglundsnyawebb.wordpress.com/om/om-akademien/|title=Om Akademien|date=23 April 2018|website=Peter Englund|language=sv-SE|access-date=10 January 2019}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
*''Holowczyn: Battle of the Moscow Road'' (boardgame, 1980)<ref name="boardgamegeek.com">See http://www.boardgamegeek.com/designer/2962</ref>
*''Peter the Great'' (boardgame, 1980)<ref name="boardgamegeek.com"/>
*''Poltava'' ("Poltava") (1988)
*''Det hotade huset'' ("A House in Peril") (1989)
*''Förflutenhetens landskap'' ("The Landscape of Times Past") (1991), collection of essays
*''Ofredsår'' ("Years of War") (1993), Sweden during [[Thirty Years' War]] with [[Erik Dahlberg]] at the centre of the book
*''Brev från nollpunkten'' ("Letters from Ground Zero") (1996), collection of essays about modern history
*''Den oövervinnerlige'' ("The Invincible") (2000), on Sweden's period as a Great Power. Sequel to ''Ofredsår''
* Erik Lönnroth : inträdestal i Svenska akademien (2002)
* ''Tystnadens historia och andra essäer'' ("History of Silence") (2003), collection of essays
* ''Jag skall dundra'' (2005)
* ''Spegelscener : minnesfragment från fyra krig'' (2006)
*''Silvermasken'' ("The Silver Mask") (2006), a short biography of [[Christina of Sweden|Queen Kristina of Sweden]]
*''Stridens skönhet och sorg'' ("The Beauty and the Sorrow") (2008), a biography-based book about 19 people who lived during [[World War I]]
* Det stora svalget : en finlandssvensk i första världskriget (2010)
* 1914 Stridens skönhet och sorg : Första världskrigets inledande år i 68 korta kapitel (2014)
* 1915 Stridens skönhet och sorg : Första världskrigets andra år i 108 korta kapitel (2015)
* 1916 Stridens skönhet och sorg (2015)
* ''Söndagsvägen'' (2020)
* ''Onda nätters drömmar : November 1942 och andra världskrigets vändpunkt i 360 korta kapitel'' (2022); English, ''November 1942: An Intimate History of the Turning Point of World War II'' (trans. Peter Graves; Knopf, 2023)<ref>Alexander, Caroline (21 November 2023). "[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/books/review/november-1942-peter-englund.html In the Middle of a War With No End in Sight]". ''New York Times''. Retrieved 15 January 2024. Print version, 14 January 2024, p. 11.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050307035254/http://www.svenskaakademien.se/ENG/members/lmp/chair10.html Biography]

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{{s-culture}}
{{succession box|title=[[Swedish Academy]], [[List of members of the Swedish Academy#Seat 10|Seat No.10]]|before=[[Erik Lönnroth]]|after=incumbent|years=2002–}}
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{{Members of the Swedish Academy}}
{{August Prize Best Non-Fiction}}
{{Selma Lagerlöf Prize}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Englund, Peter}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Boden, Sweden]]
[[Category:Members of the Swedish Academy]]
[[Category:20th-century Swedish historians]]
[[Category:Uppsala University alumni]]
[[Category:Selma Lagerlöf Prize winners]]
[[Category:August Prize winners]]
[[Category:21st-century Swedish historians]]
[[Category:Swedish people of Walloon descent]]
[[Category:Writers from Norrbotten County]]

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Peter Englund