Peter Englund
SwitzerlandBiography of Peter Englund
Peter Englund is a Swedish historian, professor, and member of the Swedish Academy. He was born on April 4, 1957, in Boden. After studying in his hometown and serving in the Swedish army's artillery units for 15 months, he enrolled in Uppsala University to study archaeology, theoretical philosophy, and history.
Englund's research interests primarily revolve around the perception of the world and society by the Swedes in the 17th century. He synthesized his studies in his doctoral dissertation, "Det hotade huset – Adliga föreställningar om samhället under stormaktstiden," which he completed in 1989.
Parallel to his dissertation, Englund worked on a book dedicated to the Battle of Poltava. It was published in 1988 under the title "Poltava: A Story of the Death of an Army." In the book, Englund provides a detailed account of the events that took place near Poltava in June 1709. It gained significant success in Sweden and greatly contributed to the growing interest among Swedes in their history. "Poltava" was printed in a quarter of a million copies and translated into several languages, including Russian in 1995.
In 1993, Englund released the first book of his trilogy, titled "Ofredsår" ("The Years of War"). In this trilogy, he aimed to comprehensively examine the history of the 17th century. The first book discusses how Sweden transformed from a small Scandinavian country into a great European power. It received the August Prize in the category of "Specialized Literature" and was printed in a similarly large print run as "Poltava."
In 2000, Englund published the second book of the series, titled "Den oövervinnerlige" ("The Invincible"). It describes the 1650s and the crisis that followed the end of the Thirty Years' War. The third book of the trilogy has not been released yet, but Englund has stated that it will cover the period from 1660 until the reductions of 1680.
Since 2001, Englund has held a professorship at the Institute of Dramatic Arts in Stockholm. On May 23, 2002, he was elected a member of the Swedish Academy, and on June 1, 2009, he became its permanent secretary.
Englund is also the author of several movie scripts. He wrote the screenplay for the television series "Ramona," which portrays the crisis of 1952 between the Soviet Union and Sweden after two Swedish reconnaissance planes were shot down over the Baltic Sea. Another script, co-written with Christian Petri, focuses on the period of Charles XII and later served as the basis for the novella "Jag skall dundra" (2005), depicting the events of a Swedish supply detachment in Poland in 1706.
