Carl David af Wirsén
| Carl David af Wirsén | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | December 9, 1842 Vallentuna, Uppland |
| Died | June 12, 1912 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | Sweden |
| Occupation | poet |
| Children | Einar af Wirsén |
| Parent(s) | Karl Ture af Wirsén Eleonore von Schulzenheim |
Carl David af Wirsén (December 9, 1842 – June 12, 1912) was a Swedish poet, literary critic and the Swedish Academy's permanent secretary 1884-1912.
Wirsén was born in Vallentuna, Uppland, to Karl Ture af Wirsén and Eleonore von Schulzenheim.
He was also for several years, in company with the historian Hans Forssell, editor of the Swedish Literary Review.
In 1870, he became a lecturer in Swedish and Latin at Katedralskolan in Uppsala. In 1876 he moved to Gothenburg, where he lectured and took care of the museum's library and art collections. In 1879 he succeeded Carl Wilhelm Böttiger to the seat 8 of the Swedish Academy, and moved the year after to , where he became literary reviewer for the Post- och Inrikes Tidningar, and in 1886 also for the magazine Vårt Land.
In November 1884 he was appointed permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy. One of his tasks was to direct the work with "fixation of spelling" and the Academy's dictionary. The former work resulted in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (The Swedish Academy's dictionary), where the modern spelling was represented, in spite of af Wirséns's opposition. Together with Theodor Wisén and Esaias Tegnér Jr., he tried to obstruct the publication. In December 1883, he was appointed member of the hymn book committee of the Church of Sweden, which got the task of "preparing, with discretion, a new proposal for hymnbook". The result was the edition of 1889. He was appointed member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1905.
Wirsén made his debut as a poet under the signature Kuno, first in the student's calendar Isblomman (1861) and in Namnlösa sällskapet's first publication Sånger och berättelser af nio signaturer ("Songs and tales by nine signatures", 1863). After that, it lasted until the mourning memorial in Uppsala in 1872 after the death of king Charles XV of Sweden, for whom he wroteSång till minne af konung Carl XV ("Song commemorating king Charles XV"). After several romantic poems in the monthly Nu, he published his first collection Dikter (poems) in 1876. It was followed by other collections of poetry. His Christian faith was expressed in several ways in his works, including hymns and spiritual poems, of which probably the best known is the summer hymn En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt.
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