Lars Lönnroth

Reviewing the Festschrift written in his honour in 2000, Ulf Malm described Lönnroth as "the energetically combative and polemically gifted literature professor from Gothenburg".

Lönnroth was installed in 1993 as an honorary member of the Södermanlands-Nerikes nation in Uppsala. He is an honorary member of the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy, and the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg.

Lönnroth's research has to a large extent dealt with the Icelandic medieval fairy tale literature. Together with Sven Delblanc, he was editor of the seven-volume work "Swedish Literature" (1987-90). He has written numerous other books including the 2005 Ljuva karneval! on Sweden's 18th century bard, Carl Michael Bellman. He has published his memoirs and a personal book about his family heritage from the nationalist poet, historian and composer Erik Gustav Geijer onwards, a legacy marked by the "poetry and madness" of the book's subtitle.

Lönnroth gained his first degree at Uppsala University in 1961, and his PhD at Stockholm University in 1965. He became associate professor in Scandinavian Studies at University of California, Berkeley in 1965, and professor in literature and text science at Aalborg University in 1974. From 1982 to 2000, he was professor in literary studies at the University of Gothenburg, with a short break when he was Svenska Dagbladet's cultural director from 1991 to 1993. He was chairman of Statens konstnärsnämnd from 1995 to 2001, and chairman of Sällskapet Gnistan from 1999 to 2013.

Lars Lönnroth (born 4 June 1935) is a Swedish literary scholar.