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Samfundet De Nio

Swedish literary society

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ1507627
Source-derived summary

Samfundet De Nio (The Nine Society or Society of the Nine) is a Swedish literary society founded on 14 February 1913 in Stockholm by a testamentary donation from writer Lotten von Kraemer. The society has nine members who are elected for life. Its purpose is to promote Swedish literature, peace and women's issues. It mainly presents a number of literary awards. It was started as an alternative to the Swedish Academy and is often compared to its more noted cousin.

Membership

Four seats are always held by women and four by men. Seat number one, the chair, alternates between men and women.

Current members

Seat 1: Anna Williams (chair), professor, since 2019.

Seat 2: Nina Burton, author, since 1994

Seat 3: Jonas Ellerström, author, translator, publisher, since 2017

Seat 4: Marie Lundquist, author, since 2022

Seat 5: Gunnar Harding, author, since 1993

Seat 6: Sara Stridsberg, author, since 2021

Seat 7: Niklas Rådström, author, since 1995

Seat 8: Madeleine Gustafsson, author, arts critic, since 1999

Seat 9: Johan Svedjedal, professor, literary critic, since 1995

Historical members

Original members: Viktor Almquist (chair), Selma Lagerlöf, Karl Wåhlin, Ellen Key, Erik Hedén, Kerstin Hård af Segerstad, Göran Björkman, Anna-Maria Roos, John Landquist

Some notable members over the years have been Astrid Lindgren, Elin Wägner, Marika Stiernstedt, Karin Boye, Hjalmar Gullberg, Karl Vennberg, Gunnel Vallquist, Kerstin Ekman, Sara Lidman, Birgitta Trotzig, Knut Ahnlund and Anders Olsson.

Prizes

Samfundet De Nios stora pris (Grand Prize), the main prize to Swedish literary writers, has been awarded annually since 1921.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Samfundet De Nio” is swedish literary society. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Samfundet, Swedish and literary, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1913, 2019, 1994, 2017—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1913. For this dossier, Samfundet, Swedish and literary is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “swedish literary society” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1507627. VIAF identifies the subject as 150723572. The Library of Congress control number is n81076778. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1913, 2019, 1994 and 2017.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Samfundet De Nio”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Samfundet De Nio primary sources, Samfundet De Nio archive and Samfundet research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Samfundet De Nio”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Samfundet De Nio” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.