LEVERTIN, OSCAR IVAR

LEVERTIN, OSCAR IVAR
LEVERTIN, OSCAR IVAR (1862–1906), Swedish poet and literary critic, the first Jew to gain eminence in Swedish literature. Levertin, the son of a Stockholm antiquarian, was born in Gryt, near Norrköping. In his student days at the University of Uppsala (where he was a pupil of Johan Henrik Schück\>\> ), he joined the literary circle of "Young Sweden." In 1899 he became professor of literature at the Academy (now the University) of Stockholm. As a poet, Levertin was distinguished by his aestheticism and his sophisticated preoccupation with aims and moods. Emotionally drawn to romanticism, he was intellectually a determinist, and the personal struggle engendered by this conflict became the leitmotiv of his poetry. He was thus closer to the English Pre-Raphaelites and the French symbolists than to writers of the contemporary Swedish school. His most characteristic verse appears in Legender och visor ("Leg-ends and Songs," 1891), which contains a number of poems on Jewish themes. Two other collections were Nya dikter ("New Poems," 1894) and Dikter ("Poems," 1901). As a critic, Levertin displayed sensitivity, learning, and cultural awareness. In 1897 he joined the reorganized Svenska Dagbladet, gaining new fame as the newspaper's principal literary critic. Together with Carl Gustav Verner von Heidenstam, a leader of the Swedish anti-naturalist movement, he formulated a literary program to which he adhered in his own writing. Levertin's many prose works include novels, novellas, and essays. Rococo-noveller ("Rococo Stories," 1899), a collection of pastiches, recreated the courtly 18th-century world of King Gustav III. One of the most beautiful of these tales, Kalonymos, describes a Passover celebration in Stockholm, the central character expressing something of the writer's own skeptical humanism. As a young man in 1880, Levertin had published a poem denouncing antisemitism. Though thoroughly Swedish in his tastes and sympathies (his family had settled in the country in the late 18th century) he remained a conscious Jew, emotionally and historically bound to his people and never quite at home in his Scandinavian environment. For many years he suffered from a lung disease, and he became increasingly obsessed with death and religious problems. His last major work was the verse cycle Kung Salomo och Morolf ("King Solomon and Morolf," 1905), whose themes derived from Jewish, Oriental, and medieval sources. His other publications include the novella Konflikter (1885), Diktare och drömmare (1898), Teater och drama under Gustav III (1889), and Svenska gestalter (1903). His collected works appeared in 24 volumes (1907–11). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Söderhjelm, Oskar Levertin, 2 vols. (Swedish, 1914–17); O. Mendelsohn, Jödiske innslag i Oskar Levertins diktning (1938); C. Fehrman, Levertins lyrik (1945); Svenskt litteraturlexikon (1964), S.V.; A. Levertin (ed.), Den unge Levertin (1947); B. Julin, Hjartats landsflykt (1962). (Hugo Mauritz Valentin)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

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  • Levertin, Oscar Ivar — (1862 1906)    A Swedish poet, novelist, short story writer, and critic, Levertin had little sympathy with the interest in folk culture that came to the fore in the 1890s; he preferred the city and the Greco Roman past. His role as a newspaper… …   Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater

  • Levertin, Oscar Ivar — ▪ Swedish poet and scholar born July 17, 1862, near Stockholm, Swed. died Sept. 22, 1906, Stockholm  Swedish poet and scholar, a leader of the Swedish Romantic movement of the 1890s.       Levertin was educated at Uppsala University and became in …   Universalium

  • Levertin, Oscar Ivar — (1862 1906)    Swedish poet and literary citic. He was born in Gryt. He became a professor of literature at the Academy of Stockholm. Some of his poems and stories deal with Jewish themes …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Levertin — Oscar Levertin, Gemälde von Carl Larsson 1906 Oscar Ivar Levertin (* 17. Juli 1862 im Socken Gryt, Gemeinde Valdemarsvik bei Norrköping; † 22. September 1906 in Stockholm) war ein …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Levertin — Levertin,   Oscar Ivar, schwedischer Schriftsteller, * Gryt (bei Norrköping) 17. 7. 1862, ✝ Stockholm 22. 9. 1906; anfänglich vom Naturalismus beeinflusst, gegen den er sich später zusammen mit V. von Heidenstam wandte, so v. a. in den… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Oscar Levertin — painted by Carl Larsson 1906 Oscar Ivar Levertin (17 July 1862, Norrköping – 22 September 1906) was a Swedish poet, critic and literary historian. Levertin was a dominant voice of the Swedish cultural scene from 1897, when he started writing… …   Wikipedia

  • Oscar Levertin — Oscar Levertin, Gemälde von Carl Larsson 1906 Oscar Ivar Levertin (* 17. Juli 1862 im Socken Gryt, Gemeinde Valdemarsvik bei Norrköping; † 22. September 1906 in Stockholm) war ein schwedis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Swedish literature — Introduction       the body of writings produced in the Swedish language within Sweden s modern day geographic and political boundaries.       The literatures of Sweden and Finland are closely linked. From the mid 12th century until 1809, Finland …   Universalium

  • Liste der Biografien/Les–Lez — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Λέβερτιν, Όσκαρ — (Oscar Ivar Levertin, Γκιρτ 1862 – Στοκχόλμη 1906). Σουηδός ποιητής και κριτικός, εβραϊκής καταγωγής. Σπούδασε στο πανεπιστήμιο της Ουψάλα και έγινε καθηγητής της ιστορίας της λογοτεχνίας στο πανεπιστήμιο της Στοκχόλμης. Με τις παραδόσεις του… …   Dictionary of Greek

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