Swedish Academy of Science Fiction Award
The Swedish Academy of Science Fiction or, in Swedish, Svenska akademin för science fiction, was started in 1964 by Ingvar Svensson, a biochemist at the Wallenberg Laboratories of Uppsala University and a very active fan. Initially, in 1963, Svensson’s notion was just to express his appreciation of a specific fan publication: the first, mimeographed edition of Sam J. Lundwall's bibliography of sf and fantasy in Swedish. Svensson consequently, in the fall of 1963, presented Lundwall with a diploma called the “Nobel Prize in Science Fiction.”
However, on closer reflection, Svensson decided to actually form an "Academy of Science Fiction" in order to award diplomas for commendable serious contributions to the study of sf, and to otherwise "preserve and contribute to the literary and scientific values of science fiction, and to help to stimulate cooperative research into sf and its fandom". To do this, the idea was to also publish an annual volume of both ongoing encyclopedic entries and longer essays.
With this aim, the "Academy" was formed in early 1964, consisting of Svensson himself, as well as four other active fans: Leif Andersson, Christer Landergren, Sam J. Lundwall, and Lars-Olov Strandberg. In 1966, Roland Adlerberth was also elected to the academy.
The Academy Award was presented from 1964 and on. However the intended annual publication had only two mimeographed volumes, in 1964 and 1966. The first, entitled, Skandifandom, was an impressive volume of 154 pages; the second, Skandifandom Annual 1964-65, added 86 pages.
After a period of no activity apart from the awards, new members were elected in 1973, when Lundwall and Landergren left the group. Instead, Göran Bengtson, John-Henri Holmberg, Mats Linder and Bertil Mårtensson were elected. This, however, had no noticeable effect on the activities of the Academy, and nothing further was heard of it after its last annual award was presented at the 1976 ScanCon in Stockholm.
The award was presented to:
| Year | Recipient |
|---|---|
| 1963 | Sam J. Lundwall |
| 1964 | Dénis Lindbohm |
| 1965 | no award |
| 1966 | Jannick Storm, Denmark |
| 1967 | John-Henri Holmberg |
| 1968 | Bertil Mårtensson |
| 1969 | Mats Linder |
| 1970 | Jon Bing, Norway |
| 1971 | no award |
| 1972 | Hans Arnold |
| 1973 | Göran Bengtson |
| 1974 | Carl Johan Holzhausen |
| 1975 | Tor Åge Bringsværd, Norway |
| 1976 | Sven Christer Swahn |
| Award | 1963—1976 |
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