Stockholm Fame

Stockholm’s first claim to fame started with Alfred Nobel. This incredible man was a Swedish chemist who invented dynamite. This of course made him extremely wealthy and opened the door to more inventions and discoveries. He eventually held more than 350 patents and controlled factories and labs in 20 countries. When a newspaper mistakenly published an obituary of Nobel, it was his turning point. The obituary made remarks that displayed him as a bad guy saying that inventions were for blowing things up and they killed a lot of people. He was unsettled by this article and didn’t want to be remembered in such a way so he pledged his wealth to better humanity. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been honoring men and women from around the world for their achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for their outstanding work promoting peace throughout the globe. Fame didn’t stop there; another famous figure out of Stockholm was Johan August Strindberg. Strindberg was the most influential playwright and novelist of all Swedish authors.

He was known as one of the developers of modern theatre through his two major literary styles, Naturalism and Expressionism. Naturalism is a style that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality by constructing the stages with three-dimensional settings and writing about contemporary real life situations. Expressionism is a deeper way of writing. It focuses on expressing the meaning of life in an emotional distorted way but still having a point that forces you to reach into your soul and think. This movement was displayed not only in literature, but art as well. The famous painting by Edvard Munch (“The Scream “) is a perfect example of this. Composer Carl Michael Bellman is an influential figure in Swedish music dating back to the 1700s. His music was innovative and original with an incredible aspect of rhythm and rhyme. He had a great sense of combining world with music and often wrote songs with daring subject matter. His music has influenced artists shortly after his time as well as today. Today fame has kept its claim on Stockholm with professional golfer Annika Sorenstam. Sorenstam’s achievements rank her as one of the most successful female golfers in history. By winning up to 90 international tournaments she can also claim to have the most wins to her name. She has also won a record eight Player of the Year awards and six Vare Trophies. These are given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average. Stockholm is home to many famous authors, sports icons and composers throughout history and with their high level of education will continue to