Dan Andersson

Dan Andersson
Dan Andersson, 1917
Born	Daniel Andersson (1888-04-06)6 April 1888 Ludvika, Sweden
Died	16 September 1920(1920-09-16) (aged 32) Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Author, poet
Literary movement	Naturalism

Dan Andersson (6 April 1888 in Ludvika – 16 September 1920 in Stockholm)^[1] was a Swedish author, poet, and composer. He sometimes used the pen name Black Jim. Although he is counted among the Swedish proletarian authors, his works are not limited to that genre.^[2]

Early life[edit]

Born in Grangärde parish in the province of Dalecarlia (Dalarna), Andersson grew up under harsh conditions in the village of Skattlösberg. His father Adolf was a primary school teacher there, and his mother Augusta had also taught in the local school. The village lies in the "Finn Woods" of southern Dalarna, where Forest Finns had immigrated to cultivate new land. On his father's side, Andersson descended from these Finnish settlers. Andersson took odd jobs during the first years of his life, for instance as a forestry worker and school teacher. He found it difficult to make a living. The family considered trying to find a better life in the United States, and Andersson was sent to live in Forest Lake, Minnesota, as a 14-year-old in 1902 to see if it would be possible. But he wrote to them, saying that there were no better opportunities there than in Sweden, upon which his father asked him to come home. The family moved from Skattlösberg in 1905, but Andersson returned there to live with his parents and his five siblings in Luossa cottage there from 1911 to 1915. During this period, he wrote several stories and poems; in particular, large parts of his Kolarhistorier [sv] and Kolvaktarens visor [sv] were probably created during this time. In 1918 Andersson married primary schoolteacher Olga Turesson, the sister of troubadour Gunnar Turesson [sv].^[2][3]

• 
  Andersson aged 14
• 
  Luossa cottage, celebrated in the song "Omkring tiggarn från Luossa" (Around the beggar from Luossa), published in the 1917 Svarta ballader.
• 
  Andersson's writing-desk in Luossa cottage

Brunnsvik[edit]

During 1914–1915, Andersson studied at the Brunnsvik folk high school, with, among others, future authors Harry Blomberg and Ragnar Jändel. He was a friend of Karl Lärka, who became a well-known documentary photographer. From this time onwards he was active as an author, writing poems and songs about his home region; these are still read and sung a century later in Swedish homes. Gunde Johansson [sv] and Thorstein Bergman [sv] are among the best known of his interpreters. Andersson also set some of his lyrics to music — most notably Till min syster ("To My Sister") and Jungman Jansson ("Seaman Jansson") — and played the accordion and violin. He was a co-worker at the Social Democratic newspaper Ny Tid in Gothenburg 1917–1918, and he also translated texts by Rudyard Kipling and Charles Baudelaire into Swedish. Despite his simple upbringing, Andersson was highly educated.^[4]

Death[edit]

Dan Andersson died in room 11 at Hotel Hellman in Stockholm on 16 September 1920, where he had gone to look for a job at the newspaper Social-Demokraten. The hotel staff had used hydrogen cyanide against bedbugs and had not cleared the room as prescribed. At 3 p.m. Andersson was found dead.^[3] Andersson is buried at Lyviken Cemetery in Ludvika.^[5]

Legacy[edit]

Andersson's poetry enjoys a broad popularity among the Swedish people because of its naturalist mysticism and searching for God. In 2005, Sofia Karlsson recorded a new interpretation of 11 of his songs on her album Svarta ballader, which received a Grammis award in both Sweden and Denmark,^[6] and before that time his poems had been sung by musicians including the Hootenanny Singers, Love Explosion, and Fred Åkerström. Joakim Thåström has referenced Andersson in his songs.

In 1988, at the centenary of Andersson's birth, Posten, the Swedish postal service, published two stamps in his honour. In Ludvika, a Dan Andersson week is celebrated the first week of every August; the town has a Dan Andersson museum and statue. There is a bust at Järntorget in Gothenburg.^[7]

• 
  Andersson bust, Gothenburg
• 
  The Dan Andersson museum, Ludvika

Works[edit]

In Swedish[edit]

• 1903 Brevkort från Grangärde finnmark
• 1914 Kolarhistorier [sv]
• 1915 Kolvaktarens visor [sv]
• 1916 Det kallas vidskepelse
• 1917 Svarta ballader
• 1918 De tre hemlösa
• 1919 David Ramms arv
• 1920 Chi-mo-ka-ma [sv]. Berättelser från norra Amerika
• 1922 Efterlämnade dikter

In English[edit]

• 1929 Modern Swedish Poetry Pt. 1, trans. by C. D. Locock, (New York: The Macmillan Company)
• 1934 Modern Swedish Short Stories, trans. by Madeleine Ekenberg, (London: Cape)
• 1943 Charcoal Burner’s Ballad and Other Poems by Dan Andersson, trans. by Caroline Schleef, (New York: Fine Editions Press)
• 1950 Scandinavian Songs and Ballads edited by Martin S. Allwood, (Mullsjö: Anglo-American Center)
• 1958 The Last Night in Paindalen by Dan Andersson, trans. by Caroline Schleef, (Galesburg: Wagoner Printing Co.)
• 1974 Swedish Songs LP, trans. by Fred Lane, (Stockholm: Troll Flute)
• 1991 Swedes On Love CD, trans. by Roger Hinchliffe, (Stockholm: Roger Records)
• 1994 Dan Andersson in English, trans. by Åke Helgesson, (Hallsberg: Åke Helgesson)
• 2003 Poems of Dan Andersson, trans. by Mike McArthur, (Wintringham: Oak Tree Press)

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Algulin, Ingemar (1989). A History of Swedish Literature. Stockholm: Swedish Institute.
• Gustafson, Alrik (1961). A History of Swedish Literature. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Marklund, Lena (2014). "Dan Andersson". Project Runeberg.
• Warme, Lars G., ed. (1996). A History of Swedish Literature. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dan Andersson.

• Dan Andersson at Authors' Calendar

Translations

• Christmas-song in the Finnmark (Julvisa i Finnmarken)
• A musician's last journey (En spelmans jordafärd)
• For my sister and four other poems
• Seaman Jansson on YouTube
• Poems by Dan Andersson
• Twelve Poems

Videos

• The Brookland Road on YouTube