Gyllensten, Lars

Gyllensten, Lars

▪ Swedish author
in full  Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten 
born Nov. 12, 1921, Stockholm, Swed.
died May 25, 2006, Solna

      Swedish intellectual, professor of histology, poet, and prolific philosophical novelist.

      Gyllensten was reared and educated in Stockholm. He earned a medical degree (1953) at Karolinska Institute, where he later served as a professor of medicine (1955–73). In 1966 he was elected to the Swedish Academy, an organization that awards various literary honours, including the Nobel Prize for Literature. Two years later he was appointed to the Nobel Committee for Literature, and in 1977 he was made permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy. In 1989, however, he chose to become an inactive member of the academy after it failed to protest Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Khomeini, Ruhollah)'s call for the death of Salman Rushdie (Rushdie, Sir Salman), whose Satanic Verses (1988) had been denounced as blasphemous by Muslims. Gyllensten also served as chairman (1987–93) of the Board of the Nobel Foundation.

      Gyllensten's principal theme in his novels is the subjective and relative nature of man's perception of truth. He reaches the conclusion that absolute skepticism is the necessary basis for experience and knowledge. This theme is developed in Barnabok (1952; “Children's Book”) against the background of a gradually dissolving marriage. In its sequel, Senilia (1956), the aging process has a similar function in relation to its main character, but this time the inner monologue finds a positive resolution. Sokrates död (1960; “The Death of Socrates”) is a historical novel set in 5th-century-BC Athens. In Lotus i Hades (1966; “Lotus in Hades”) a religious, mystical solution emerges, as in Diarium spirituale (1968; “Spiritual Diary”) and Grottan i öknen (1973; “The Cave in the Desert”). He explores an ideologically bankrupt world in such novels as Moderna myter (1949; “Modern Myths”) and Kains memoarer (1963; The Testament of Cain, 1967).

      Other works by Gyllensten include Det blå skeppet (1950; “The Blue Ship”), Carnivora (1953), Senatorn (1958; “The Senator”), Baklängesminnen (1978; “Memories in Reverse”), and Ljuset ur skuggornas värld (1995; “The Light from the World of Shadows”). He also wrote more than 40 monographs on embryology. His memoir, Minnen, bara minnen (“Memories, Only Memories”), was published in 2000.

      Gyllensten received a number of honours. The Swedish Foundation for the Promotion of Literature gave him its annual award in 1972, and three years later he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Gyllensten, Lars — (1921 )    A Swedish novelist and essayist, Gyllensten has pursued two apparently different careers, one as a medical doctor and specialist in histology, and one as a writer. However, both endeavors are centered on a search for truth, which… …   Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater

  • Gyllensten, Lars Johan Wictor — ▪ 2007       Swedish physician, novelist, and intellectual (b. Nov. 12, 1921, Stockholm, Swed. d. May 25, 2006, Solna, Swed.), in some 30 novels, explored the subjective and relative nature of man s perception of truth, reaching the conclusion… …   Universalium

  • Gyllensten — Lars Gyllensten (* 12. November 1921 in Stockholm; † 25. Mai 2006 ebenda) war ein schwedischer Autor und Arzt. Er war Sohn des Disponenten Carl Gyllensten und von Ingrid Rangström, Schwester von Ture Rangström. Er saß auf Stuhl Nr. 14 der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten — Lars Gyllensten Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten, né le 12 novembre 1921 à Stockholm et décédé le 25 mai 2006, était un romancier suédois, membre de l Académie suédoise. Biographie Lars Gyllensten fut professeur d histologie au Karolinska Institut de …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lars Gyllensten — (* 12. November 1921 in Stockholm; † 25. Mai 2006 ebenda) war ein schwedischer Schriftsteller und Arzt. Er war Sohn des Disponenten Carl Gyllensten und von Ingrid Rangström, Schwester von Ture Rangström. Er saß auf Stuhl Nr. 14 der Schwedischen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lars Gyllensten — Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten (12 November 1921 ndash; 25 May 2006) was a Swedish author and physician, and a member of the Swedish Academy, which has the aim of furthering the purity, vigour and majesty of the Swedish language and selects the… …   Wikipedia

  • Lars Gyllensten — Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten, né le 12 novembre 1921 à Stockholm et décédé le 25 mai 2006, était un romancier suédois, membre de l Académie suédoise. Biographie Lars Gyllensten fut professeur d histologie au Karolinska Institut de 1955 à 1973.… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gyllensten —   [ jylənsteːn], Lars Wictor, schwedischer Schriftsteller, * Stockholm 12. 11. 1921; Arzt und Dozent für Histologie, 1955 73 Professor am Karolinska Institut in Stockholm; seit 1966 Mitglied der Schwedischen Akademie, seit 1968 Mitglied des… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Jan Wictor — Lars Gyllensten (* 12. November 1921 in Stockholm; † 25. Mai 2006 ebenda) war ein schwedischer Autor und Arzt. Er war Sohn des Disponenten Carl Gyllensten und von Ingrid Rangström, Schwester von Ture Rangström. Er saß auf Stuhl Nr. 14 der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Pär Silje — Lars Gyllensten (* 12. November 1921 in Stockholm; † 25. Mai 2006 ebenda) war ein schwedischer Autor und Arzt. Er war Sohn des Disponenten Carl Gyllensten und von Ingrid Rangström, Schwester von Ture Rangström. Er saß auf Stuhl Nr. 14 der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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