View source for Erik Axel Karlfeldt

{{short description|Swedish poet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name        = Erik Axel Karlfeldt 
| image       = Erik Axel Karlfeldt 1931.jpg
| caption      = Karlfeldt in 1931
| birth_name  = Erik Axel Eriksson
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1864|07|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Karlbo]], Sweden
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1931|04|08|1864|07|20|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Stockholm]], Sweden
| occupation  = Poet
| nationality = [[Sweden|Swedish]]
| awards      = [[1931 Nobel Prize in Literature]]
| module = {{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office              = [[Swedish Academy|Member of the Swedish Academy]]<br> (Seat No. 11)
| termstart           = 20 December 1904
| termend             = 8 April 1931
| predecessor         = [[Clas Theodor Odhner]]
| successor           = Torsten Fogelqvist
| name                = 
| office2             = [[Swedish Academy|Permanent Secretary<br> of the Swedish Academy]]
| termstart2          = February 1913
| termend2            = April 1931
| predecessor2        = [[Hans Hildebrand]]
| successor2          = [[Per Hallström]]
}}
}}
'''Erik Axel Karlfeldt''' (20 July 1864 – 8 April 1931) was a [[Sweden|Swedish]] poet whose highly symbolist poetry masquerading as regionalism was popular and won him the [[1931 Nobel Prize in Literature]] posthumously after he had been nominated by [[Nathan Söderblom]], member of the [[Swedish Academy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/|title=Nomination Archive|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref> Karlfeldt had been offered the award already in 1919 but refused to accept it, because of his position as permanent secretary to the [[Swedish Academy]] (1913–1931), which awards the prize.<ref>Gustav Källstrand ''Andens olympiska spel: Nobelprisets historia'', Fri Tanke Förlag 2021, ISBN 9789180203715</ref>

==Biography==
Karlfeldt was born into a farmer's family in [[Karlbo]], in the province of [[Dalarna]]. Initially, his name was ''Erik Axel Eriksson'', but he assumed his new name in 1889, wanting to distance himself from his father, who had suffered the disgrace of a criminal conviction. He studied at [[Uppsala University]], simultaneously supporting himself by teaching school in several places, including [[Djursholms samskola]] in the [[Stockholm]] suburb of [[Djursholm]] and at a school for adults. After completing his studies, he held a position at the [[Royal Library of Sweden]], in Stockholm, for five years.

In 1904, Karlfeldt was elected a member of the [[Swedish Academy]] and held chair number 11. In 1905, he was elected a member of the Nobel Institute of the academy, and, in 1907, of the Nobel Committee. In 1912, he was elected permanent secretary of the academy, a position he held until his death.

[[Uppsala University]], Karlfeldt's alma mater, awarded him the title of [[Doctor of Philosophy|Doctor]] [[honoris causae]] in 1917.

Karlfeldt was a [[Pantheism|pantheist]].<ref>Hildeman, Karl-Ivar. “ERIK AXEL KARLFELDT: AN EVALUATION.” Scandinavian Studies, vol. 40, no. 2, 1968, pp. 81–94.</ref>

== Works in English ==
*Modern Swedish Poetry Part 1 (1929) – (trans. by [[C. D. Locock]])    
*Arcadia Borealis (1938) – (trans. by [[Charles Wharton Stork]])
*The North! To the North! (2001) – (trans. by [[Judith Moffett]], five poets including Karlfeldt)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{Nobelprize}} 
*[http://www.nobel-winners.com/Literature/erik_axel_karlfeldt.html Short biography at nobel-winners.com]
*[http://noblib.internet-box.ch/NLEW.php?authorid=31 List of Works]
*[https://runeberg.org/authors/karlfelt.html Karlfeldt's collected works] and [https://runeberg.org/eakdikt/ a facsimile of a 1956 edition], both at [[Project Runeberg]]
* {{Books and Writers |id=karlfeld |name=Erik Axel Karlfeldt}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-culture}}
{{succession box|title=[[Swedish Academy]], [[List of members of the Swedish Academy|Seat No 11]]|before=[[Clas Theodor Odhner]]|after=[[Torsten Fogelqvist]]|years=1904–1931}}
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{{Nobel Prize in Literature}}
{{1931 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Swedish Nobel Laureates}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlfeldt, Erik Axel}}
[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1931 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Avesta Municipality]]
[[Category:Writers from Dalarna County]]
[[Category:Members of the Swedish Academy]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Literature]]
[[Category:Swedish-language poets]]
[[Category:Uppsala University alumni]]
[[Category:Swedish Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Posthumous Nobel laureates]]