Par Lagerkvist
(1891–1974)

Par Lagerkvist was an outspoken critic of totalitarianism, dictatorship in government. He was an intensely private man about whom little was known outside of his literary work. Although he did not achieve recognition until late in his career, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1951 and is considered a major Swedish writer of the 20th century.

Fascism and Nazism during World War I and World War II disturbed Lagerkvist. As a result, the nature of good and evil and the search for spirituality were dominant themes in his work. Exploring the brutalities of totalitarianism and the meaning of life, his early work was often dark and pessimistic. The Hangman, published in 1933, is a condemnation of fascism. His later work conveyed less pessimism; however, he became known as a defender of humanitarian idealism.

Lagerkvist was virtually unknown in the United States until his novel Barabbas was translated in English and published in 1951, the same year he received the Nobel Prize. A prolific writer, he also wrote poetry, nonfiction, and drama. His last novel, Herod and Mariamne, was published in 1967, seven years before his death.

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