Jean-Claude Arnault (; born 15 August 1946), known in Swedish media as ("the cultural personage", but commonly translated literally as "the cultural profile"), is a French-Swedish convicted

sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crime ...

. He worked as a photographer and is the former artistic director of the cultural center ''Forum – Nutidsplats för kultur'' ("Forum – Contemporary Scene for Culture")

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Arnault became widely known after several accusations of sexual assault levelled against him precipitated a scandal resulting in the resignations of members of the Nobel Committee and the postponement of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature. These events occurred against the background of the

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...

. In 2018, he was found guilty of two sexual assaults and sentenced to two years and six months in prison. He appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court of Sweden on the basis of judicial disqualification. On 5 May 2019, the court decided not to grant leave to appeal and the verdict from the lower court was subsequently enforced.

Life

Arnault was born in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, France. He won

Natur & Kultur Natur & Kultur is a Swedish publishing foundation with head office in Stockholm known for an extensive series of teaching materials. Its logotype is an apple tree. Overview The publishing house was founded in 1922 by Johan Hansson and his wi ...

's cultural award in 2008. He is married to former

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 ...

member

Katarina Frostenson Alma Katarina Frostenson Arnault (born 5 March 1953) is a Swedish poet and writer. She was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1992 to 2019. In 2003, Frostenson was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in France in recognition of her serv ...

Sexual assault allegations and rape conviction

In November 2017, in the wake of the Me Too movement, eighteen women accused Arnault of sexual assault, alleged to have occurred over the course of 20 years. This caused the Swedish Academy to break all financial ties with him. Swedish media have reported that he groped Swedish Crown Princess Victoria at an academy event in 2006. At the same time, his wife

was accused of corruption for not informing the Swedish Academy about

conflicts of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

when distributing subsidies for her husband's cultural center. The Swedish Academy believes he leaked the names of seven winners of the Nobel Prize in literature. Arnault denied all allegations. On 1 October 2018, Arnault was convicted of one count of rape and sentenced to two years in prison as well as a SEK 115,000 fine. Arnault appealed the verdict. On 3 December 2018, the

Svea Court of Appeal Svea Court of Appeal ( sv, Svea hovrätt), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. It is located in the Wrangel Palace, on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. History The Svea C ...

increased the sentence and found Arnault guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced him to two years and six months in prison. The fine was raised to SEK 215,000. Following his conviction, Arnault was also stripped of his knighthood in the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

, which he had been granted in 2015.

Repercussions

In the wake of the accusations, the Swedish Academy suffered a considerable blow to its reputation. Academy member

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, ...

left the academy and academy members

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 ...

Peter Englund Peter Mikael Englund (born 4 April 1957) is a Swedish author and historian. Englund writes non-fiction books and essays, often about the Swedish Empire and other historical events. He writes in a very accessible style, providing narrative deta ...

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 Ma ...

and Frostenson ceased taking part in the academy's work, leading to concerns about the future of the academy. On 27 April 2018,

Sara Stridsberg Sara Brita Stridsberg (born 29 August 1972) is a Swedish author and playwright. Her first novel, ''Happy Sally'' was about Sally Bauer, who in 1939 had become the first Scandinavian woman to swim the English Channel. Her big international breakt ...

left the academy in solidarity with

. Due to the scandal and a perceived tarnishing of the Nobel Committee's reputation, the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

was postponed until 2019. The

New Academy Prize in Literature The New Academy Prize in Literature was established in 2018 as an alternative to the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was not awarded in 2018 and instead postponed until 2019. The winner was announced on 12 October 2018 given to the Guadeloupan-Fr ...

was created as an alternative to the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Imprisonment

Arnault was an

inmate A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

in Skogome Prison, a high-security prison for sex offenders; Swedish media reported that he was disciplined for breaking prison rules by making sexist comments towards a female warder.Arnault i fängelset: Hade det inte varit snyggt om ni haft bikinis på er?
/ref> In late 2019 he was transferred to another prison at Tillberga.Kulturprofilen Arnault flyttas till Tillbergaanstalten
/ref> Arnault was conditionally released from prison in May 2020.Arnault släpps ut från fängelset – flyttar hem
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnault, Jean-Claude 1946 births Living people French emigrants to Sweden Criminals from Marseille 20th-century Swedish photographers French people convicted of rape Prisoners and detainees of Sweden Swedish people convicted of rape