Читать книгу Nobel - Michael Worek - Страница 8

Since 1901 the Swedish Academy has had the responsibility of attributing the Nobel Prize in Literature. The academy was established in 1786 by King Gustaf III. He personally wrote most of its statutes, having been inspired by the French Academy; he also conferred on the institution its motto, “Snille och smak” (Talent and good taste). The main objective drawn up for the academy by Gustaf III was to work for the “purity, vigor and majesty” of the Swedish language. In the monarch’s understanding, the academy had a patriotic duty to elevate the country’s language and literature, as well as commemorate great national events of the past.

With the turn of the century, and after much debate, the academy accepted a task that was not a part of its initial mandate: to spend a considerable portion of its capacities to annually attribute the Nobel Prize in Literature. Erik Axel Karlfeldt, who, during the time he was permanent secretary between 1913 and 1931, revitalized and modernized the Swedish Academy, opened its doors to new writers and electing the first woman to its team.