Sven Lidman Sven Lidman (3 December 1921 – 28 February 2011)Sven Lidman junior död
, '' Dagen'', 10 March 2011 was a Swedish lexicographer living in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, son of the writer Sven Lidman. He was the main editor or managing director of several Swedish encyclopedias, including the 5th edition of ''Kunskapens bok'' (9 volumes 1954–1955), ''

Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

'' (5 volumes 1958–1960), ''Lilla Focus'' (1 volume 1961), ''Combi Visuell'' (5 volumes 1968–1970), ''Combi lexikon'' (2 volumes 1973), ''Familjens universallexikon'' (2 volumes 1975), ''Bonniers familjelexikon'' (20 volumes 1983–1986) and ''Bonniers stora lexikon'' (15 volumes 1985–1990). His ideas to use illustrations not ''to'' but ''with'' the text took European

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical le ...

to new heights with ''Focus'' and ''Combi Visuell''. The latter is a rare landmark in visualization from the same booming years that saw the first Moon landing. In 1983, Lidman took the initiative to found ''Bild och Ord Akademin'', 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 ...

of Verbovisual Communication, where he holds the honorary title of Preses Magnificus. Since its beginning in 1983, the Academy has awarded an annual Lidman Prize for good information in words and images. His autobiography, ''Uppslagsboken och jag'' (1988), covering the 1950s to the 1970s was published after it was decided in 1985 that the Swedish state order for ''

Nationalencyklopedin (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version. History The project was ...

'' would go to a competing publisher. An updated autobiography was published in 2006, The two works overlap, but the latter contains more of personal reflexions and uses more of the illustration techniques that the author preaches, in addition to covering the 1990s. A continued chapter can be downloaded in PDF from the publisher's website (www.lindco.se).

References

External links

Bild och Ord Akademin

Svenska Uppslagsverk
Christofer Psilander's website of Swedish encyclopedias {{DEFAULTSORT:Lidman, Sven 1921 births 2011 deaths Swedish lexicographers Swedish philologists Swedish autobiographers