Verner von Heidenstam

Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam was born on 6 July 1859. His poetry and prose carried an exuberance that frequently drew on Swedish history and the country's physical terrain. In 1912 he was elected to the Swedish Academy. Four years later, in 1916, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for that vitality threaded through his writing. He continued working until his death on 20 May 1940, leaving a body of work marked by its attachment to place and a kind of unguarded delight in being alive.