Peter Mikael Englund (born 4 April 1957) is a Swedish author and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

. Englund writes

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

books and essays, often about the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

and other historical events. He writes in a very accessible style, providing narrative details usually omitted in typical books about history. His books have gained popularity and are translated into several languages, such as German and Czech. He was the permanent secretary of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

from 1 June 2009 to 31 May 2015, when he was succeeded by

Sara Danius Sara Maria Danius (5 April 1962 – 12 October 2019) was a Swedish literary critic and philosopher, and a scholar of literature and aesthetics. Danius was professor of aesthetics at Södertörn University, docent of literature at Uppsala Univers ...

. In January 2019 Englund announced that he, and fellow academy member

Kjell Espmark Kjell Erik Espmark (19 February 1930 – 18 September 2022) was a Swedish writer, literary historian, member of the Swedish Academy, and Professor of the History of Literature at Stockholm University. He was elected to the Swedish Academy on 5 ...

, would return as active members of the Swedish academy, where they had been inactive since April 2018.

Biography

Englund was born in 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 The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

at the

Norrbotten Regiment The Norrbotten Regiment ( sv, Norrbottens regemente), designation I 19, is a Swedish Army arctic armoured, light infantry and commando regiment that traces its origins back to the 19th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited fr ...

located in Boden. He was politically active in his youth and supported the

National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

. Englund studied

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, and theoretical

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

, completing a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

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 Military Intelligence and Security Service ( sv, Militära underrättelse- och säkerhetstjänsten, MUST) is a division of the Swedish Armed Forces Central Command. MUST is both a foreign intelligence and a military security/counterintelligence ...

("MUST"), and the year before receiving his doctorate he had published the bestselling ''Poltava'', a detailed description of the

Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava; russian: Полта́вская би́тва; uk, Полта́вська би́тва (8 July 1709) was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. A Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeate ...

, where the troops of Swedish king

Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...

were defeated by the Russian army of Tsar Peter I in 1709. Englund has received the

August Prize The August Prize ( sv, Augustpriset) is an annual Swedish literary prize awarded each year since 1989 by the Swedish Publishers' Association. The prize is awarded to the best Swedish book of the year, in three categories. Prize In the years 1989- ...

(1993) and the Selma Lagerlöf Prize for Literature (2002). He was elected a member of the

in 2002. On 1 June 2009, he succeeded

Horace Engdahl Horace Oscar Axel Engdahl (born 30 December 1948) is a Swedish literary historian and critic, and has been a member of the Swedish Academy since 1997. He was the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy from 1999 to June 2009, when he was succee ...

as the permanent secretary of the Academy. In 2009, perhaps to distance himself from Engdahl, the previous Nobel secretary, Englund, "criticized the jury panel as being too "

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western world ...

,'" and "told the Associated Press that it was easier for Europeans to relate to European literature". In December 2014, he announced his retirement from the post of secretary of the Swedish Academy,. On 1 June 2015,

succeeded Peter Englund as permanent secretary. On 6 April 2018, Englund announced that he would no longer participate in the Academy's work. On the same day,

Klas Östergren Klas Östergren (born 20 February 1955) is a Swedish novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and translator. Östergren had a breakthrough with his fourth novel ''Gentlemen'' in 1980. He has been awarded numerous Swedish literary prizes, su ...

and

also declared that they would become inactive members of the Academy. 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.

Bibliography

*''Holowczyn: Battle of the Moscow Road'' (boardgame, 1980)See http://www.boardgamegeek.com/designer/2962 *''Peter the Great'' (boardgame, 1980) *''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 The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

with

Erik Dahlberg '' Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh (10 October 162516 January 1703) was a Sweden, Swedish military engineer, Governor-general and Field marshal. He rose to the level of nobility through his military competence. As an architect and draftsman, he w ...

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 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

* 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)

References

External links

Biography

Englund's website (in Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englund, Peter 1957 births Living people People from Boden Municipality Members of the Swedish Academy 20th-century Swedish historians Uppsala University alumni Selma Lagerlöf Prize winners August Prize winners 21st-century Swedish historians