Hjalmar Gullberg

Hjalmar Gullberg (30 May 1898 – 19 July 1961) was a Swedish poet and translator.

Career
Gullberg was born in Malmö, Scania. As a student at Lund University, he was the editor of the student magazine Lundagård. He was the manager of the Swedish Radio Theatre 1936-1950. In 1940 he was made a member of the Swedish Academy, and he also became an honorary doctor of philosophy at Lund University (1944).

A poem from Gullberg's book Kärlek i tjugonde seklet from 1933, called "Förklädd gud" ("God in disguise"), was set to music by the composer Lars-Erik Larsson in 1940. The resulting lyrical suite has become one of the most well-recognised and best loved pieces of Swedish music for choir and orchestra.

Personal life
Gullberg had been suffering from myasthenia gravis, which resulted during his last few years that he was bound to his bed. He had also been tracheotomized, and was for long periods of time connected to a ventilator. He committed suicide on 19 July 1961 by drowning at Lake Yddingen in Scania.

Selected translations and interpretations of other writers' work

 * Aristophanes: Fåglarna (The Birds) (1928)
 * Euripides: Hippolytos (Hippolytus) (1930)
 * Euripides: Medea (1931)
 * Aristophanes: Lysistrate (Lysistrata) (1932)
 * Eurypides: Alkestis (Alcestis) (1933)
 * Sophocles: Antigone (1935)
 * Molière: Den girige (L'Avare/The Miser) (1935)
 * Calderón: Spökdamen (La Dama Duende/The Phantom Lady) (1936)
 * Alfred de Musset: Lek ej med kärleken (On ne badine pas avec l'amour) (1936)
 * Gabriela Mistral: Dikter (1945)
 * Federico García Lorca: Blodsbröllop (Bodas de sangre) (1946)
 * Gabriela Mistral: Den heliga vägen (1949)
 * Molière: Den inbillade sjuke (Le Malade imaginaire/The Hypochondriac) (translated for Sveriges Radio 1954)
 * Gåsmors sagor (1955)
 * Själens dunkla natt and other interpretations of foreign lyrics (1956)
 * Aeschylus: Agamemnon (1960)
 * Franskt 1600-tal (published posthumously in 1962 with an introduction by Olle Holmberg)
 * William Shakespeare: Köpmannen i Venedig (The Merchant of Venice) (1964)
 * William Shakespeare: Som ni behagar (As You Like It) (1964)