The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA (Swedish: Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or Vitterhetsakademien) is the Swedish royal academy for the Humanities. Its many publications include the archaeological and art historical journal Fornvännen, published since 1906.
Now located in Rettigska house at Villa Street 3 in Stockholm, the Academy had origins in the early 1700s CE Uppsala. It was founded in 1753 by Queen Louisa Ulrica, Queen of Sweden and the mother of King Gustav III and originally dedicated to literature. In 1786 when the Swedish Academy was founded it was reconstituted under its present name with new objectives, mainly dedicated to historical and antiquarian preservation. This included a close cooperation with the Swedish National Heritage Board or Riksantikvarieämbetet whose director was, ex officio, the Academy's secretary.
The Academy's purpose is "to promote research and other activities in the humanities, religious studies, jurisprudence and social science disciplines and cultural heritage". This is done primarily through financial support and through vibrant publishing. Among the academy's writings are Fornvännen. The Academy's responsibilities have grown to encompass the entire activity of the humanities field in the broad sense, including religion, law and social studies. At the request of the government or public authority, or on its own initiative, the Academy gives opinions on matters that affect its activity.