Carl Michael Bellman


Bellman, Carl Michael

 

Born Feb. 4, 1740, in Stockholm; died there on Feb. 11, 1795. Swedish poet.

Bellman studied at the University of Uppsala. His songs are contained in the collections Fredman’s Epistles (1790) and Fredman’s Songs (1791). His songs, which are democratic in tone, depict the life of the Stockholm streets and often combine a cheerful humor with tragic undertones. He composed the tunes for his songs and successfully rendered them himself, thereby earning the name “the Swedish Anacreon.”

WORKS

Dikter. Stockholm, 1916.
Skrifter, vols. 1–11. Stockholm, 1921–64 . . . (publication not completed).

REFERENCES

Sylwan, O. Bellman och Fredmans epistlar. Lund, 1943.
Blanck, A. C. M. Bellman. Stockholm, [1948].
Austin.P. B. The Life and Songs of C. M. Bellman. Malmö, [1967].

A. A. MATSEVICH