Selma Ottilia Lagerlöf (1858-1940)

Awarded the Prize “in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings.”

Swedish novelist. Lagerl?f was born in Ostra Emterwik, Varmland, Sweden on November 20, 1858. In 1881, she went to a teachers’ college at Stockholm and became a teacher at the girls’ secondary school in Landskrona in 1885. In 1895 financial support from the royal family and the Swedish Academy encouraged her to abandon teaching altogether. She died in Marbacka on March 16, 1940.
Major Works:
Gosta Berlings Saga (1891); Jerusalem (1901-1902); Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (1906); Lowenskoldska Ringen (1925); Charlotte Lowenskold (1927); Marbacka (1922-1932)