Jan Guillou
Jan Guillou | |
---|---|
Göteborg Book Fair in 2013. | |
Born | Södertälje, Sweden | 17 January 1944
Occupation | author, journalist |
Nationality | Swedish, French |
Genre | spy fiction, historical fiction, political thriller |
Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (Swedish pronunciation:
Life and career
Guillou was born in Södertälje, Stockholm County, Sweden.[1] His Breton-Swedish father, Charles Guillou (1922–2020), came to Sweden in 1941 as the son of a member of the French Resistance and head of the offices of Free France in Stockholm,[2] and later became a journalist for the French nationwide daily newspaper L'Équipe.[2] His mother, Marianne (née Botolfsen; 1922–2013), was of Norwegian descent. Guillou acquired French citizenship at birth and became a Swedish citizen in 1975.[3] When Guillou's paternal grandfather was offered a position at the French embassy in Helsinki, Finland, his father decided to move with him and settled there.[4] Guillou grew up with his mother and her new husband in Saltsjöbaden and Näsbypark outside of Stockholm.[1]
Education
Guillou studied at
He finished his studentexamen (upper-secondary final examination) from the boarding school Viggbyholmsskolan, located in Viggbyholm, in 1964.[1] Guillou then attended Stockholm University from 1964 to 1966.[7]
Family
Guillou first lived together with author and translator Marina Stagh, with whom he has two children, Dan (born 1970) and Ann-Linn (born 1972) Guillou. His daughter Ann-Linn, a journalist and feminist commentator, lives in a civil union with Sandra Andersson, daughter of film director Roy Andersson.[8]
He is now married to publisher Ann-Marie Skarp (born 1952), the daughter of colonel Åke Skarp and Märta (née Kugelberg).[7] He has an apartment in the Östermalm district of Stockholm, where he has lived for most of his adult life.[9] He also has a country residence in Flybo, Östhammar Municipality, northern Roslagen, where he lives when he writes his books.[1]
Employment
Guillou started his career as a journalist writing for the magazine
Guillou has served as the host of several television programmes: Magazinet (1981–1984), Rekordmagazinet (last years together with Göran Skytte) and Grabbarna på Fagerhult (together with Pär Lorentzon and Leif G. W. Persson), all shown on Sveriges Television.
He co-authored the crime/drama television series
He was awarded the Lenin Award (Sweden) in 2014, and at the prize ceremony Cecilia Cervin said this about him: "You have remained “cheeky”, or refractory as Jan Myrdal usually calls it, i.e., disobedient, defiant, resilient, through a long writing life. You have achieved a lot with it and that is why we pay tribute to you today."[10]
The IB affair
In 1973,
The exposure of the IB in the magazine, which included
Guillou, Peter Bratt and Håkan Isacson[12] were all arrested,[19] tried in camera (behind closed doors) and convicted of espionage. According to Bratt, the verdict required some stretching of established judicial practice on the part of the court since none of them were accused of having acted in collusion with a foreign power.[20] After one appeal Guillou's sentence was reduced from one year to 10 months. Guillou and Bratt served part of their sentence in solitary cells. Guillou was kept first at Långholmen Prison in central Stockholm and later at Österåker Prison north of the capital.
The CIA affair
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (January 2021) |
In 1976, two employees of Sveriges Radio contacted Guillou at Folket i Bild/Kulturfront with a story of a colleague that had been recruited by a
The recruited spy was at a later meeting instructed to go to Angola with orders to get information about both military and political conditions. The legally experienced within the group advised their double agent not to agree, but he went anyway. Afterwards, the group assembled to write a false report about the conditions in the civil war-ridden country. Before the three could finalize the entire story for publishing, the spy went to Angola a second time, now with additional tasks on his instruction sheet.
After the spy had returned to Sweden, Guillou in advance placed the article in a major newspaper and with a television news editor. He also contacted the Foreign Department in order to prevent official denials, and discuss the repercussions of the espionage exposure. The published article was a true 'scoop', and the CIA spy handler was ordered to leave Sweden together with a colleague. The spy himself avoided prosecution thanks to the article's portrayal of him as a rather heroic journalist, exposing foreign illegal operations to the public. Afterwards, both he and Guillou were interrogated by the Swedish Security Service, but for assumed political reasons, no criminal charges were made.
Swedish tabloid accusation
During a five-year period starting in 1967, Guillou had a series of meetings with
According to Guillou, his intention was to expose the KGB espionage journalistically through a scoop based on the activities he was being exposed to and the discussions he had with his KGB contact Jevgenij Gergel.[22] One of the journalists who wrote the articles later commented that he believed Guillou's explanation, "I do not doubt one word of what he has said".[23]
Guillou received payment from KGB for written reports on Swedish politics, and Expressen points to this fact when defending its choice to refer to Guillou as a
Säpo at the time was skeptical towards Lemberg's report and commented that it found nothing illegal in a newspaper man writing an article based on public information and delivering it to Jevgenij Gergel.[23]
The public Ombudsman of the Swedish Press, Yrsa Stenius, later concluded that Expressen's presentation of facts had been an example of irresponsible journalism. According to her, Expressen had not backed up its frontpage assertion, that "Jan Guillou [was a] Secret Soviet Agent", despite the fact that this had caused "massive" damage to Guillou's reputation.[27] Stenius's conclusion caused controversy, and a number of newspaper leader writers demanded that she resign her post.
On 1 June 2010, the Swedish Press Council [PON] acquitted Expressen of wrongdoing. Expressen denies having claimed that Guillou was guilty of the crime of "espionage", and PON agrees. The frontpage and headline assertions ("Guillou Secret Soviet Agent", "Confesses KGB mission", "Recruited by chief of espionage") according to PON "do not have well defined meanings". PON was also satisfied that the factual details of the story were fully covered in the text of the articles which also included Guillou's own account of the events.[28]
Political views
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Guillou was associated with the
On the Middle East
Guillou is known for his support of the
The book Irak – det nya Arabien (Iraq – The New Arabia), written by Guillou and his then-wife Marina Stagh, was published in 1977. In the book, which deals with Iraq under the
The conditions at the
On the United States
Immediately following the
He labeled the media's reaction to the
When the film Evil (2003), an adaption of Guillou's autobiographical novel from 1981, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 Guillou was still listed as a terrorist by the US government, because of the IB affair, but managed to get a visa for attending the Academy Award ceremony. However, the film’s director Mikael Håfström had given Guillou's ticket to his own wife and Guillou was not able to attend the ceremony.[37]
On other issues
Ever since the IB affair and the resulting prison sentence for espionage in 1973, Guillou has been a strong critic of the Swedish Security Service. According to Guillou, the Security Service has listed him as a terrorist, which has led to problems with security officials when visiting other countries.[38]
In recent years, Guillou has repeatedly criticised some people and groups within the Swedish radical feminist movement.[8] However, he rejects being called an "antifeminist".[8]
Guillou has also attracted controversy over his views on the history of homosexuality. He has said that "homosexuality is more of a vogue phenomenon than something you're born into. It's something that has come and gone through history"[39] and that "homosexuality didn't exist in the 17th century".[40]
Books
Early novels
Guillou's first novel Om kriget kommer (If the War Comes) was published in 1971. It's a political spy novel told in the form of a pseudo-documentary about how Sweden in the early 1970s launches a military invasion of South Africa and Rhodesia to overthrow the white apartheid regimes. The main character is the Swedish military spy Karl Aronovitch who prepares the invasion together with African politicians and guerillas.
His second novel, Det stora avslöjandet (The Big Disclosure), was written in prison (see the IB affair) and was published in 1974. The book is intended as a comedy and is a semi-autobiographical novel about a young journalist writing for men's magazines in Stockholm in the early 1970s. The author's alter ego created for the novel is named Erik Ponti, a character that would return in several of his later novels.
His third novel,
Hamilton
In 1986 Guillou published Coq Rouge, the first novel about his fictional Swedish military spy
The main character Carl Hamilton is a Swedish navy officer with
Guillou stated that the tenth novel, En medborgare höjd över varje misstanke (1995), was the last book of the series and that it was impossible for Hamilton to return. However, when he was working on the novel Madame Terror ten years later, he realised that he needed Hamilton to make the plot work. After Hamilton had made his return, he also appears in the novel Men inte om det gäller din dotter.
- Film and TV adaptations based on Hamilton
- Codename Coq Rouge, portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård (1989)
- Förhöret, portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård (television film 1989) (English translation: The Interrogation)
- The Democratic Terrorist (TV series), with Humberto López y Guerra (1989)
- Enemy's Enemy, portrayed by Peter Haber (television miniseries 1990)
- The Democratic Terrorist (film), portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård (1992)
- Vendetta, portrayed by Stefan Sauk (movie 1995, extended television miniseries 1996)
- Tribunal, portrayed by Stefan Sauk (television film, 1995)
- Hamilton, portrayed by Peter Stormare (movie 1998, extended television miniseries 2001)
- Hamilton – I nationens intresse, portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt (2012)
- Hamilton – Men inte om det gäller din dotter, portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt (2012)
- Agent Hamilton portrayed by Jakob Oftebro (2020)
The Carl Hamilton who appears in the movies and TV series made between 1989 and 1998 (Stellan Skarsgård, Peter Haber, Stefan Sauk and Peter Stormare) is based on the novels, with minor changes.
The Carl Hamilton who appears in the movies Hamilton – I nationens intresse (2011) and Hamilton – Men inte om det gäller din dotter (2012), played by Mikael Persbrandt, is only loosely based on the character from the novel and does not follow the original story line or setting, and is mostly a new character moved into the 2010s.
The Carl Hamilton who appears in the TV series Hamilton (2020), played by Jakob Oftebro, is entirely different from the original story, both younger and moved to the 2020s.
Crusades trilogy
After finishing the
The Crusades Trilogy consists of the following novels:
- The Road to Jerusalem, original Swedish title Vägen till Jerusalem (1998)
- ISBN 0-7528-4650-7
- The Kingdom at the End of the Road, original Swedish title Riket vid vägens slut (2000)
As a follow-up to the trilogy Guillou also wrote a fourth medieval novel entitled The Heritage of Arn, original Swedish title Arvet efter Arn (2001) about Birger Jarl, a mighty ruler during the formation of Sweden and supposed founder of Stockholm. In Guillou's fictional universe, Birger Jarl is the grandson of Arn Magnusson.
The War on Terror
In 2004 Guillou returned to contemporary crime novels meant to depict the world of Western politics and law in the wake of 9/11 and the War on terror, mainly focusing on the new character Eva Johnsén-Tanguy, a high ranking police officer who comes to work within the Swedish security service. She is introduced in Tjuvarnas marknad ("Market of Thieves") in 2004, and her story continues in Fienden inom oss ("The Enemy Within Us") in 2007 and Men inte om det gäller din dotter ("But Not If It Concerns Your Daughter") in 2008, a novel which also saw the return of Carl Hamilton.
The Great Century
In 2011 Guillou published the first part of a new series meant to depict the 20th century, from 1901 to 2001. In his own words the project is to be his last, and also his biggest and his best,[43] telling the story of humanity's greatest, bloodiest and most cruel century.[44] The series follows the family Lauritzen, starting in the late 19th century when three brothers from a poor fishing village in Norway are sent to Dresden in Germany to become engineers. The series then continue with their descendants through the 20th century, and each novel is meant to cover one decade. The plot includes ambitious engineering projects in Scandinavia and Africa, colonialism, communities of artists, underground resistance and espionage during the world wars, the nuclear threat, the impact of American culture on Sweden, the leftist movement in the '60s and '70s, Vietnam protests, economy and politics and law. The first three novels are mainly set in Norway, Germany, Eastern Africa and Britain, while the setting moves to Sweden with the fourth novel.
- Brobyggarna ("The Bridge Builders") (2011)
- Dandy (2012)
- Mellan rött och svart ("Between Red and Black") (2013)
- Att inte vilja se ("Not Wanting to See") (2014)
- Blå stjärnan ("The Blue Star") (2015)
- Äkta amerikanska jeans ("Real American Jeans") (2016)
- 1968 (2017)
- De som dödar drömmar sover aldrig ("Those Who Kill Dreams Never Sleep") (2018)
- Den andra dödssynden ("The Second Deadly Sin") (2019)
- Slutet på historien ("The End of the Story") (2020)
Awards and honours
- 1984 – Stora Journalistpriset ("Great Journalist Award"), for his writings in the Keith Cederholm-case
- 1984 – Aftonbladets TV-pris ("Aftonbladet TV Award"), in the category "Male Television Person of the Year"
- 1988 – Bästa svenska kriminalroman ("Best Swedish Crime Novel") from the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers, for I nationens intresse
- 1990 – Ondskan(awarded as best novel translated into French)
- 1998 – Swedish Union of Local Government Officers
- 2000 – Riket vid vägens slut
- 2014 – The Lenin Award[45]
Guillou was also chairman of the Swedish Publicists' Association (Publicistklubben) from 2000 to 2004.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Hagen, Cecilia (3 December 2006). "Det ska mycket till för att reta upp mig". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
- ^ a b Lutaud, Lena (5 June 1995). "JAN GUILLOU : Bons baisers de Suède". Libération (in French). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ Jansson, Pär (7 November 2009). "Ljuger Guillou om sin värnpliktstjänstgöring?" (in Swedish). Newsmill. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009.
- ^ Trägårdh, Maria (27 September 2003). "Kan man ta bort sin ondska, Jan Guillou?". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 February 2008.
- ^ "Skolkamraterna: Jan Guillou ljuger". Expressen (in Swedish). 26 September 2003. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011.
- ^ "Min son ljuger om Ondskan". Expressen (in Swedish). 2 November 2003. Archived from the original on 30 July 2009.
- ^ SELIBR 8261515.
- ^ a b c Ritzén, Jessica (31 July 2006). "Räddad–av sin hjälte". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ^ Ullenius, Agneta (21 September 2007). "Ridderliga Östermalm". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 February 2008.
- ^ "Cecilia Cervin's speech to Jan Guillou". Leninpriset. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ISBN 0-7146-8182-2.
- ^ SELIBR 10415176.
- ^ Bratt, Peter; Guillou, Jan (1973). "Sveriges spionage". Folket i Bild/Kulturfront (in Swedish). No. 9. p. 2. Archived from the original on 7 November 2009.
- ^ Bratt, Peter; Guillou, Jan (1973). "Spioner". Folket i Bild/Kulturfront (in Swedish). No. 9. p. 2. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010.
- SELIBR 8838870.
- ^ Säkerhetstjänstkommissionen (Ju 1999:09)
- SELIBR 11576462.
- ^ Rikets säkerhet och den personliga integriteten.(SOU 2002:87). Statens offentliga utredningar: Justitiedepartementet, 2002.
- SELIBR 10415176.
- SELIBR 10415176.
- ^ a b "Jan Guillou hemlig agent åt Sovjet" [Guillou secret agent for Soviet Union]. Expressen (in Swedish). 24 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009.
- ^ Svenska Dagbladet, 24 October 2009: Jan Guillou arbetade för KGB ("Jan Guillou worked for KGB") (in Swedish)
- ^ a b Josefsson, Dan (29 March 2010). "Expressens förlorade scoop om Guillou". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
- ^ Jan Guillou Admits KGB Contacts[permanent dead link]. SR International – Radio Sweden, 24 October 2009
- ^ Writer Guillou admits KGB connection. TT/The Local, 24 October 2009
- ^ ""Jan Guillou var KGB-agent" - Nyheter - Senaste nytt | Expressen - Nyheter Sport Ekonomi Nöje". Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ Guillou, Jan (17 March 2010). "PO: Guillou vållades oförsvarlig skada". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 April 2022.
- ^ "Data". Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ producer: Fredrik Johnsson (17 June 2007). "IB-affären". P3 Dokumentär. Season 4. Episode 1. Stockholm. 21 minutes in. Sveriges Radio. P3. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008.
- ^ "Här fortsätter chatten med Jan Guillou" [The chat with Jan Guillou continues here]. Expressen (in Swedish). 28 October 2009. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
- ^ Guillou, Jan (1976). "Sionism är rasism". Folket i Bild/Kulturfront (in Swedish) (1).
- ^ Guillou, Jan (16 April 2001). "Så tystas kritik mot israelisk apartheid". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 August 2006.
- ^ Guillou, Jan (13 March 1977). "Jag är optimist". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 3.
- SELIBR 8345571.
- ^ Guillou, Jan (17 September 2001). "Vi blev tvångs- kommenderade att bli amerikaner". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
- ^ Guillou, Jan (20 August 2006). "Tro aldrig på någonting som skrivs om al-Qaida (Don't believe anything written about al-Qaida)". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
- ^ Lindstedt, Karin (24 February 2004). "Guillou snuvad på Oscarsgalan". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ Guillou, Jan (27 July 1998). "Väpnad kamp mot förtryck är ingen tebjudning". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ^ Wiklund, Anna-Maria (2 August 2002). "Homosexualitet är snarare en trend". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
- ^ Garthman, Therese (11 March 2003). "Straffad machorebell" (in Swedish). Värnpliktsnytt. Retrieved 1 March 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Guillou, Jan (2003). På jakt efter historien. p. 69-70
- ^ Ballif Straubhaar, Sandra (2002). Swan, Jesse; Utz, Richard (eds.). "A Birth Certificate for Sweden, Packaged for Postmoderns: Jan Guillou's Templar Trilogy". The Year's Work in Medievalism (15).
- ^ "Det sista jag gör i livet, SVT documentary". YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
- ^ "Om Jan Guillou". Piratförlaget. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ "Jan Guillou | Leninpriset". Retrieved 3 March 2020.
External links
- Piratförlaget – Jan Guillou (in Swedish), presentation at book publisher's website
- Jan Guillou's column in Aftonbladet (in Swedish)
- Jan Guillou at IMDb
- The Salomonsson Agency