What is the Swedish Academy?
Q: What is the Swedish Academy?
A: The Swedish Academy is an organization that was started in 1786 by the Swedish King Gustav III. It was modeled after the Académie française, which was the first academy ever created. The Swedish Academy has 18 members and its motto is "Talent and Taste".
Q: What does the Swedish Academy do?
A: The main purpose of the Swedish Academy is to decide who will win the Nobel Prize in Literature each year. They also work to keep the Swedish language clean by publishing two dictionaries - Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL) and Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB).
Q: Where does the Swedish Academy meet?
A: The Swedish Academy meets at a building now known as Stockholm Stock Exchange Building. This building used to be used for dances, New Years Eve parties, etc., but in 1914, they were granted permission to use it forever for their own meetings.
Q: How many members are there in the Swedish Academy?
A: There are 18 members in total in the Swedish Academy.
Q: What is SAOL?
A: SAOL stands for Svenska Akademiens ordlista, which translates to 'Swedish Academies Word List'. It is a dictionary published by the academy that comes only one big book and had been up to its 14th edition as of 2015.
Q: What is SAOB?
A: SAOB stands for Svenska Akademiens ordbok, which translates to 'Swedish Academies Dictionary'. It consists of many volumes similar to Oxford English Dictionary and work had got as far as words beginning with letter 'V' by 2015.
Q: Why did King Gustav III start this organization?
A: King Gustav III started this organization because he wanted a place where he could hold winter events such as dances or New Year's Eve parties since it was one of few places that could be heated during winter season at that time.
