Karl Jonas Ludvig Almqvist

Almqvist, Karl Jonas Ludvig 

Born Nov. 28, 1793, in Stockholm; died Sept. 26, 1866, in Bremen. Swedish writer and a contributor to newspapers of the liberal opposition.

Almqvist became a professor at the University of Lund in 1838, but in 1841 reactionary circles forced him to resign. He lived in the USA from 1851 to 1865. Almqvist advocated peasant populism and Utopian socialism. Many of his short stories, such as The Palace and The Chapel, are built around the image of the romantic hero. His realistic novel about the life of the peasant, Skallnora Mill (1838, Russian translation 1914), and the novel Gabriéle Mimanso (1841–42) defend the interests of the people. The novel Sara Videbeck (in Russian, Modino; 1839), posed the problem of women’s emancipation. In the novel Three Ladies of Småland (1842–43), Almqvist advanced the idea of universal brotherhood on a religious basis.

WORKS

Samlade shifter, vols. 1–21. Stockholm, 1921–38.
In Russian translation:
“Chasovnia.” Finskii vestnik, 1845, vol. 5.
“Dvorets.” Sovremennik, 1845, vol. 37.
Mel’nitsa v Shel’nure. Foreword by J. Baltrusaitis. Moscow, 1914.

REFERENCE

Steffen, R. Svensk litteratur-historie. Stockholm, 1944.