LINGUISTS from Sweden

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Swedish Linguists of all time. This list of famous Swedish Linguists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Bernhard Karlgren (1889 - 1978)

With an HPI of 51.43, Bernhard Karlgren is the most famous Swedish Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈbæ̌ːɳaɖ ˈkɑ̂ːɭɡreːn]; 15 October 1889 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods. In the early 20th century, Karlgren conducted large surveys of the varieties of Chinese and studied historical information on rhyming in ancient Chinese poetry, then used them to create the first ever complete reconstructions of what are now called Middle Chinese and Old Chinese.

2. Göran Malmqvist (1924 - 2019)

With an HPI of 45.87, Göran Malmqvist is the 2nd most famous Swedish Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Nils Göran David Malmqvist (6 June 1924 – 17 October 2019) was a Swedish linguist, literary historian, sinologist and translator. He was also a member of the Swedish Academy between 1985 and 2019.

3. Bo Ralph (1945 - )

With an HPI of 39.72, Bo Ralph is the 3rd most famous Swedish Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Bo Rune Ingemar Ralph (born 4 October 1945) is a Swedish linguist, member of the Swedish Academy, and professor of Nordic Languages at the Department of Swedish Language at Gothenburg University. He was elected to the Swedish Academy on 15 April 1999 and admitted on 20 December 1999. Bo Ralph succeeded the philosopher and sociologist Torgny T:son Segerstedt to Seat No.2. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.