Adolf Noreen

1854-1925.

Linguists.

Adolf Noreen was born in Östra Ämtervik in Värmland and defended his thesis Fryksdalsmålets ljudlära in 1877. The thesis deals with the dialect from his homeland and was the first dialect description based on scientific principles.

Noreen published handbooks on language history, for example on Old Icelandic in Altisländische Grammatik (1884) and on Old Swedish in Altschwedische Grammatik (1904).

In his major work Vårt språk (1903-1924) he sets out his basic view of language and presents a blueprint for grammar. Noreen was also one of the driving forces behind the spelling reform of 1906.

Between 1887-1919 Adolf Noreen was professor of Nordic languages, was elected member of the Academy of Sciences in 1902, member of the Academy of Sciences in 1917 and became member of the Swedish Academy in 1919.

Together with Johan August Lundell, he founded Upsala Enskilda Läroverk (now Lundellska Skolan) in 1892.

 

Burial site: 0115-0823

Image description: Adolf Noreen, Uppsala ca 1880-ca 1890. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Carl David af Wirsén

1842-1912.

Author, literary critic, poet.

Carl David af Wirsén was born in Vallentuna and later in life became an associate professor of literary history in 1868 and a lecturer in Swedish and Latin at the Högre Allmänna Löroverket in Uppsala in 1870.

Wirsén published Dikter (1876) and later a further six volumes of traditional idyllic poetry and several collections of religious poems.

The cemetery in Uppsala was honored with a poem and Wirsén wrote the text of the hymn "En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt" (Swedish Hymnal, hymn 201).

Wirsén was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1879 and became its permanent secretary in 1884. In this position, with his pronounced conservatism, he came to adopt an attitude that was dismissive of contemporary literature.

As a literary reviewer for Post- och Inrikes Tidningar and Vårt Land, Wirsén was able to express a reactionary view of literature for many years. A selection of his reviews can be found in Kritiker (1901).

 

Burial site: 0140-1606

Image description: Carl David af Wirsén, Stockholm ca 1880-ca 1890. Photo: Johannes Jaeger / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Otto von Friesen

1870-1942.

Linguist, runologist.

Otto von Friesen was born in Kulltorps parish, Jönköping county, and his most important scientific works deal with runic writing.

In 1897 von Friesen became an associate professor of Nordic languages at Uppsala University.

He published Om runskrifts härkomst (1906) and Rökstenen (1920), in which he claimed that the enigmatic stone is about a conflict between Ostrogoths and Frisian merchants.

During the years 1905-1936, von Friesen was a professor of Swedish language, became a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1928 and was elected to the Swedish Academy in 1929.

 

Burial site: 0106-0332

Image description: Otto von Friesen, Uppsala 1940s. Photo: Gunnar Sundgren / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Hans Järta

1774-1847.

Civil servant, politician, author.

Hans Järta (originally Baron Hans Hierta) became a student in Uppsala at the age of 13, an official in the Cabinet for Foreign Correspondence at the age of 18, and a secretary in the Judicial Audit Department four years later.

At the age of eighteen, Järta was hanging out with the men in the conspiracy against King Gustav III. Järta was at the masquerade ball in 1792 when the shot against Gustav III was fired. Afterwards, Järta gave some misleading information about the shooting, but there is only circumstantial evidence as to whether he was involved in the actual assassination plan. Nor was he ever accused of involvement in the murder.

Järta renounced both his nobility and his parliamentary position at the Riksdag in 1800 in protest against Gustav IV Adolf and the monarchical autocracy and took the name Järta (the family name was Hierta).

Järta was one of the men behind the 1809 coup d'état and, after the king's abdication, was one of the leaders in the Riksdag that year. He was secretary to the Constitutional Committee during the drafting of the 1809 Constitution.

Järta was also governor of Kopparbergs län 1812-1822, a member of the Swedish Academy in 1819 and moved to Uppsala in 1825 where he worked as a writer. In Uppsala, Järta held a literary salon, which competed with Malla Silfverstolpe's salon.

Järta later became head of the National Archives from 1837-1844.

The tall gravestone that adorns the cemetery refers to his son of the same name, who died as a young student in 1825.

 

Burial site: 0112-0588

Image description: Hans Järta. Photo: From Emil Hildebrand, History of Sweden up to the twentieth century, vol 9 (1910) / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom

1790-1855.

Author, literary historian, philosopher.

At the age of 17, Atterbom became one of the leading members of the Musis Amici society (later the Aurora Society), which sought to reform Swedish literature in a neo-Romantic spirit.

The literary revolution that Atterbom wanted to lead began in 1810 with the critical and satirical journal Polyphemus. Together with V.F. Palmblad, he started the journal Phosforus, which claimed poetry as a spiritual force capable of transforming life.

With his friends Geijer, Palmblad and Törneros, Atterbom had an amiable and soulful family relationship, and in Malla Silfverstolpe's salons, Atterbom and other Romantics were intimately at home for decades.

Atterbom became professor of theoretical philosophy in 1828, professor of aesthetics and modern literature in 1835 and was also a member of the Swedish Academy from 1839.

His works include the fairy tale play Fågel Blå (1814), the lyrical fairy tale play Lycksalighetens ö (1824-1827) and Samlade dikter (1837-1838). In Svenska siare och skalder (1841-1845), Swedenborg, Ehrensvärd and Thorild are portrayed. Stiernhielm, Dahlin, Kellgren and Bellman are also portrayed.

 

Burial site: 0152-0060

Image description: Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, painting by Johan Gustaf Sandberg 1831, Photo: Nationalmuseum / Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Erik Gustaf Geijer

1783-1847.

Historian, philosopher, author and composer.

Erik Gustaf Geijer, one of Uppsala's greatest cultural personalities of all time, was born in Ransäter in Värmland and came to Uppsala as a student in 1799. As an informant, he spent 1809-1810 in England where he carefully observed social and cultural life.

Geijer's understanding of the intellectuals' criticism increased during a trip to Germany in 1825, and he began to take a more realistic approach to the fantasies of Romanticism. He expressed this in Minnen (1834).

Geijer realized the importance of the middle class in society and the legitimacy of its demands for freedom, and as a result of the changed social analysis there was a political reorientation away from conservatism. He announced this 'apostasy' in 1838.

Geijer's ability to see and formulate the essential contexts of his time made him a strong voice in opinion-forming. Among his most significant works are Svea Rikes hävder (1825), which depicts Sweden's oldest history, and History of the Swedish People (1832-1836).

Geijer was a brilliant lecturer, a profound scholar and one of the leaders of the literary circles in Uppsala in the 1830s. He was also at the center of musical life, composing songs, piano sonatas, string quartets and other instrumental music.

Erik Gustaf Geijer was a professor of history from 1817 to 1847 and became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1824. He lived at Svartbäcksgatan 17 and then moved to Övre Slottsgatan 2. In 1846 Geijer moved to Stockholm.

The following is taken from the poem "Natthimmelen" from Samlade skrifter, Band 1-13 1849-1855.

Alone I progress on my path,
longer and longer the road stretches;
Alas, my goal is hidden in the distance.
Daylight is fading. Space becomes nocturnal.
Soon only the eternal stars I see.

But I do not complain about the day,
I am not dismayed by the coming night;
for of the love that goes through the world,
a streak also fell into my soul.

 

Burial site: 0104-0248

Image description: Erik Gustaf Geijer, lithograph from the 1840s. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. [The image is cropped]
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Dag Hammarskjöld

1905-1961.

Official, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Dag Hammarskjöld grew up in Uppsala, where his father, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, was governor. From 1936 to 1945, Hammarskjöld was State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, moving to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1946.

In 1947-1948 he was a Swedish delegate to the OEEC negotiations, Cabinet Secretary in 1949-1951, and Consultative Minister in 1951-1953. Hammarskjöld was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1953 and the following year succeeded his father as a member of the Swedish Academy.

Hammarskjöld's leadership skills were necessary to streamline the complex UN organization, and his personal integrity, diplomatic skills and commitment to the UN idea gave authority to his role as Secretary-General.

Dag Hammarskjöld died in 1961 in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the same year.

In 1963 his diary entries were published under the title Vägmärken. In the Peace Chapel in Uppsala Cathedral there is a memorial stone with the inscription:

 

Not I but God in me Dag Hammarskjöld 1905-1961.

 

Burial site: 0116-0834C

Image description: Dag Hammarskjöld, 1959 New York, USA. Photo: United NationsThe image is cropped]
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