A suecophile is someone, typically a non-Swede, with a great interest in the
culture
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
and
language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. The word swedophile is sometimed used with the same meaning, likely based on the English "Sweden" in stead of Latin "Suecia". The last part of the word is the Greek
-phil-
The Greek root ''-phil-'' originates from the Greek word meaning "love". For example, philosophy (along with the Greek root ''-soph-'' meaning "wisdom") is the study of human customs and the significance of life. One of the most common uses of ...
, often used in this kind of terms.
In the language debate in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
in the 19th and 20th centuries, the
Svecoman movement
The Svecoman (, , ) movement was a Suecophile or pro- Swedish nationalist movement that arose in the Grand Duchy of Finland at the end of the 19th century chiefly as a reaction to the demands for increased use of Finnish vigorously presented by ...
was formed by those who preferred the Swedish language to the
Finnish language
Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Finnic languages, Finnic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official langu ...
. The word ''Suecophile'' is, however, more commonly used in non-political contexts.
A well-known American Suecophile of the 19th century was
William Widgery Thomas Jr., who was
US minister to Sweden and wrote the book ''Sweden and the Swedes'' in 1892, de facto promoting a better understanding and acting towards
Swedish immigrants to the US around the end of the 19th century.
, located in the
Hokkaido
is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates HokkaidÅ fr ...
prefecture of Japan, is a village inspired by idyllic Swedish towns. It is home to around 400 permanent residents as well as several hundreds who vacation in the village, where the population have also embraced the Swedish language and traditions.
See also
References
External links
{{Cultural appreciation
Admiration of foreign cultures
Culture of Sweden