Lorenz von Numers


Lorenz Torbjörn Gustaf Gunnar von Numers was a Swedish-speaking Finnish journalist, translator and author.

Biography

Lorenz von Numers' parents were Gösta Gunnar Helge von Numers, who was a railway guard and poet, and Hildur Ellen Elisabet Engberg. von Numers graduated from Brändö ''Svenska Samskolan in 1933 and studied at the University of Helsinki's Department of Humanities between 1934 and 1936.
von Numers was editor of the newspaper Nyland from 1934 to 1937. During the Spanish Civil War, he served as an observation officer, from 1937 to 1939, for an international committee tasked with securing the border in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. He was head of department for the news agency Finlandia from 1939 to 1941 and 1944 to 1946, and a front-line correspondent in Finland during the Continuation War from 1941 to 1944.
In 1947, von Numers moved to Sweden. He was editorial secretary for OBS! in Stockholm from 1948 to 1952 and editor at Svenska Dagbladet from 1955 to 1959. From 1959 onwards he lived in France. From 1967 he worked at the Finnish embassy in Paris on various assignments, working as cultural attaché from 1972 and as press counsellor from 1975 to 1978.
von Numers made his debut with the poetry collection Svart harnesk. His early work was influenced by writers such as Erik Axel Karlfeldt and Frans G. Bengtsson. After publishing the poetry collection Havslyktan, von Numers turned to prose, primarily writing novels and free essays. As a writer, he is most appreciated for his lush historical novels, such as Snäckans bröder'' about the French medieval poet François Villon, and has also made a name for himself as a travel writer. In addition to this, he also wrote poetry, causerie, essays, and short stories.
As a translator, he has translated works by André Gide, Henri Alain-Fournier, Marcel Aymé, Jean Froissart and Joseph Bédier's Tristan and Isolde, among others.

Translations (selection)

Awards