Sverker Arnoldsson


Sverker Arnolsson was a Swedish historian and humanist.
He was one of the most important Historians and Hispanists of the 20th century. He was born in Sundsvall, February the 17th 1908, and died in Gothenburg, November the 10th 1959. He started his career interested in Swedish military history but quickly got interested in the history of the Spanish Empire. He is most recognized for his work regarding the Spanish Black Legend.

Bio

Arnoldsson got his PhD from University of Gothenburg in 1937. His thesis, Svensk-fransk krigs- och fresdapolitik i Tyskland 1634–1636, was based around the Thirty Years War. Initially, his main interest was Swedish History, but through his thesis work he got fascinated with the Spanish Empire.
Arnolsson was particularly interested in written expressions of history, such as archives, poems, and propaganda. His interest in Hispanic culture was mainly focussed on culture and literature. He is one of the authors that explored the Spanish Black Legend.
In 1937 he got a position as assistant professor. He won a Rockefeller scholarship to study in the Argentinian, Mexican, and USA's National Archives. This work was followed by various studies in Spain and Portugal in 1954 and 1958.
His work during that time got him special recognition in Europe. In 1958 he was invited to Spain as a special Speaker during the celebration of the IV centenary of the death of Charles V.
He became member of the National Academy of History of Buenos Aires.

Publications

  1. Svensk-fransk krigs- och fresdapolitik i Tyskland 1634-1636
  2. Krigspropagandan i Sverige före trettioåriga kriget.
  3. Johan III:s litterära själprotarair.
  4. “Svarta Legenden”
  5. “Nicolás Guillén – svart skald från Cuba”.
  6. “Den spanska erövringen av Amerika i eftervärldens dom”.
  7. “Några intryck från spanskamerikanska arkiv och biblioteket”.
  8. San Martín y sus contemporáneos suecos”,
  9. “La historiografía moderna en Suecia”,.

Translations

He translated to Swedish various books of Latin American Poetry, such as Pablo Neruda's and Romeo Murga´s poems, in Götheborgske Spionen ; poems by Jaime Torres Bodet and Nicolás Guillén, in Ord y Bild ; poems by César Vallejo, in Svenska Dagbladet, and by Fernán Silva Valdés, in Götheborgske Spionen.
He is the author of an anthology of Latin American poetry translated to Swedish: Hettan spränger natten.