Per August Leonard Hallström (29 September 1866 – 18 February 1960) was a Swedish author, short-story writer,

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

. He joined the academy in 1908, and served as its Permanent Secretary from 1931 to 1941.Per Hallström
/ref>

Life

Before devoting himself to writing, Hallström worked in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

as a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. He is appreciated primarily for his collections of short stories, such as ''Purpur'' urple(1895) and ''Thanatos''

eath Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is c ...

(1900). His major works, written before 1910, combine profound compassion with a sensitive awareness of beauty. Between 1922 and 1946, Hallström served as Chairman of the

Nobel Committee A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are six awarding committees from four institutions, one for each Nobel Prize. Five of these committees are working bodies ...

of the Swedish Academy for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

. Per was grandfather to Anders Hallström, who was also a writer.

Selected short stories

"The Falcon" (April 1950), in ''Argosy'', Australia/New Zealand edition

References

External links

Critical Essay
by Per Hallström on Chlopi, winner of the 1924 Nobel Prize for literature 1866 births 1960 deaths Writers from Stockholm Swedish male writers Swedish-language writers Members of the Swedish Academy {{Sweden-writer-stub