The Swedish Academy (Swedish: Svenska Akademien) is an independent cultural institution founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden to promote the Swedish language and literature. Based in Stockholm, it has eighteen numbered membership chairs and is commonly called De Aderton, “The Eighteen.” Its activities include producing linguistic reference works, supporting literary scholarship and awarding prizes and grants. Internationally, it is best known for selecting the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature, a responsibility it has exercised since 1901. (svenskaakademien.se)
Foundation and historical development
Gustav III announced the Academy’s establishment on 20 March 1786. Its inauguration took place on 5 April in the Stock Exchange Building in Stockholm’s Old Town. The king appointed its first thirteen members, who elected the remaining five. Its statutes, largely drafted by Gustav himself, closely followed those of the Académie française. They assigned the institution responsibility for cultivating Swedish expression, compiling a dictionary and a grammar, and arranging competitions in eloquence and poetry. (svenskaakademien.se)
The Academy’s motto, Snille och smak, is conventionally translated as “Talent and Taste.” Its founding conception combined literary cultivation with commemoration of notable Swedes. The Annual Grand Ceremony was fixed for 20 December, the birthday anniversary of Gustavus Adolphus. Following Gustav III’s death in 1792, the institution experienced political difficulties and was suspended for two years in 1795. Its activities subsequently revived, particularly under permanent secretary Bernhard von Beskow, who took office in 1834. (svenskaakademien.se)
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Academy’s membership increasingly included writers and scholars rather than predominantly high-ranking officials. Selma Lagerlöf, awarded the literature Nobel in 1909, became its first female member in 1914. Her election formed part of the institutional modernization associated with permanent secretary Erik Axel Karlfeldt. (svenskaakademien.se)
Membership and organization
The eighteen chairs provide continuity between successive generations of members. The Academy elects replacements by secret ballot, and elections require approval from its patron, the Swedish monarch, before publication. Individuals cannot apply for membership. Members have included novelists, poets, literary historians, specialists in linguistics, historians and jurists. Membership traditionally lasts for life, but changes introduced in 2018 made formal resignation possible. (svenskaakademien.se)
The traditional officers are a director, a chancellor and a permanent secretary. The director and chancellor serve rotating six-month terms. The secretary’s responsibilities include recording meetings, implementing decisions and maintaining the archives. “Permanent” distinguishes this office from the rotating positions rather than describing a periodically elected chairperson. (svenskaakademien.se)
Dictionaries and grammatical reference works
Work on language remains central to the Academy’s original mission. Its publications address different aspects of Swedish usage rather than constituting interchangeable editions of one dictionary. The principal reference works are:
- Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL): a word list first published in 1874, providing information on contemporary spelling, pronunciation, inflection and usage.
- Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB): a historical dictionary documenting Swedish vocabulary and its development since the period of Gustav Vasa; its alphabetic publication extended from 1893 to 2023.
- Svensk ordbok (SO): a dictionary emphasizing modern meanings and usage, illustrated through examples.
- Svenska Akademiens grammatik (SAG): a four-volume descriptive grammar addressing words, phrases, clauses and sentences. (svenskaakademien.se)
These projects support both historical research and practical language use. SAOL offers guidance relevant to orthography, while SO concentrates on meanings and contexts and SAOB records vocabulary across time. The three dictionaries are searchable through a shared online portal. The Academy also publishes a shorter grammatical handbook intended for readers without advanced specialist knowledge. (svenskaakademien.se)
Selection of the Nobel literature laureates
Alfred Nobel assigned the literature award to the Academy in his will. Within the Nobel Prize system, the Academy makes the literary selection, while the Nobel Foundation provides the overarching institutional framework. Its Nobel Committee reviews candidates and obtains expert assistance; the final decision belongs to the Academy. Committee members are elected from its membership for three-year terms. (nobelprize.org)
Selection proceeds through successive stages. During the spring, a long list is reduced to approximately twenty to twenty-five candidates and then to a shortlist, typically containing five names. Members study the shortlisted writers over the summer, supported where necessary by expert reports and specially commissioned translations. Nomination records and committee opinions remain confidential for fifty years, limiting what can be established publicly about recent deliberations. (svenskaakademien.se)
Literary support and the Nobel Library
Beyond the Nobel award, the Academy supports writers, translators, critics, researchers, teachers and librarians through prizes and scholarships, and provides grants to cultural organizations. Its publishing activities include editions of Swedish classics and other works concerning literature and language. These activities extend its remit to literary preservation, scholarship and education. (svenskaakademien.se)
The Nobel Library, established in 1901, acquires contemporary literature, often in original languages, alongside works on linguistic theory and literary criticism. Located in the Stock Exchange Building since 1921, it supports Nobel assessment but also serves public readers and researchers. Jointly funded by the Foundation and Academy, it offers interlibrary loans, research reading places and literary events. (svenskaakademien.se)
The 2018 postponement and institutional changes
On 4 May 2018, the Academy announced that the year’s literature prize would be postponed, citing reduced active membership and diminished public confidence. Subsequent changes included revised resignation rules, clarification of statutes and election of new members. On 5 March 2019, the Nobel Foundation confirmed that literary awards could resume and that recipients for both 2018 and 2019 would be announced that autumn. (svenskaakademien.se)