August Strindberg: ‘Persecution of the Press and Freedom of the Press It Is the Living Breath Go Hand in Hand.’ It Was True When It Was Written in 1881
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CONFISCATION EXTRA! EXILED Seventeen news- FIRST EVER Prominent poet papers seized PRESS COUNCIL banished for in one day. FORMED! inciting revolution. 1942 1916 1793 The Swedish Freedom of the Press UNFOLDED. No. 1 #ThisIsFreedom he freedom to express oneself in T speech and writing is one of the ‘The freedom of basic human rights according to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948. The Swedish Freedom a nation is always of the Press Act was passed almost 200 years earlier, in 1766. As the first proportional to its constitutionally protected freedom of the press legislation in the world, the freedom of the press, act did not only declare freedom of the press, it also gave the citizens the legal right to scrutinise and share so that one cannot public documents according to the ground- breaking principle of public exist without the other.’ access to information. And all of this more than twenty years before the Cleric and parliamentarian Anders Chydenius, 1766. passing of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) and twenty-five years before the passing of the First Amendment in the US (1791). TOP OF THE CLASS? Recurrently ranked among the top countries on any global freedom of ‘The freedom to the press index, the story of Swedish freedom of the press has in fact been both unexpected and eventful. This think and to express unique timeline exhibition reveals how Swedish freedom of the press one’s thoughts stands came about and focuses on some of the advances and setbacks that have shaped it. In the words of Swedish above all else. writer August Strindberg: ‘Persecution of the press and freedom of the press It is the living breath go hand in hand.’ It was true when it was written in 1881. of humanity.’ In many parts of the world it still holds true today. Publicist Torgny Segerstedt, 1934. This is Sweden’s story. UNFOLDED. #ThisIsFreedom 1450 Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press. 1483 1485 Office of the first censor created in Gutenberg’s hometown Mainz. 1526 CONFISCATION The closure of Catholic bishop Hans Brask’s (1464 –1538) printing house is the first known confiscation in Sweden. The measure is ordered by King Gustav Vasa (1496 –1560) in order to curb the spread of anti-Lutheran propaganda. The same year the first royal printing house is established Dialogus creaturarum. in Stockholm, making it the official Image: Wikipedia. printing house in the country. FIRST PRINTED BOOK 1539 The first book to be printed in Sweden Gustav Vasa sends a letter to the is Dialogus creaturarum, a collection 1559 The Index Librorum country’s archbishop in which he Prohibitorum first explains that nothing shall be printed of Latin-language fables, printed by published in Rome. without the King’s consent. German Johann Snell (before 1476 – after 1519) at the Franciscan monastery on the island of Riddarholmen in 1579 Union of Utrecht treaty 1574 –1593 signed. Stockholm. During the denominational strife 1581 known as the liturgical battle a number Dutch William of Orange imposes prohibition of of prohibitions against both Catholic offensive books. and Lutheran writings are issued. The academic censorship develops and the import of books is put under 1605 strict regulation. First printed newspaper The Swedish Empire, 1611 –1721 comes out in Strasbourg. The era of the Swedish Empire, a time when Sweden was one of the great 1630 European powers, is characterised King Gustavus Adolphus (1594 –1632) issues a mandate giving the humanist by both economic and territorial Eric Schroderus (1608 –1639) the infor- mal role as censor of Stockholm. The expansion. It is also during this 1643 Licensing Order of 1643 authorisation also gives Schroderus issued in England. period that large parts of the govern- the right to print his own publications 1644 without prior review from another ment administration are developed, ‘Give me the liberty to authority. know, to utter, and to including a statutory control over the argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.’ John Milton’s dissemination of printed materials. Areopagitica is published. 1645 The newspaper Ordinari Post Tijdender publishes its first issue. It is the oldest newspaper in the world that is still in circulation, now solely online (under the name Post- och Inrikes Tidningar). 1651 The young chamber servant Arnold Messenius (1629 –1651) is executed after having written 1661 a rhymed lampoon about Sweden’s 1662 Queen Kristina (1626 –1689). Licensing of the Press Act issued in England. CENSORSHIP The guardian regency of King Charles XI (1655 –1697) introduces the first real censorship 1670 1665 ‘The more a government strives to curtail freedom ‘Pasquils and lampoons’ are banned. laws of Sweden. Henceforth, two copies of the of speech, the more obstinately is it resisted.’ Two years later, there is also a ban books printed in the kingdom are to be sent Baruch Spinoza publishes Tractatus Theologico- on the import of ‘harmful’ books. to the King’s chancery for review. Content that Politicus. is considered offensive or harmful can be confiscated and fined. Already in 1662 it is stipulated that censorship reviews will take place before printing. UNFOLDED. #ThisIsFreedom 1749 Censor librorum Niclas von Oelreich’s (1699 –1770) imprimatur stamp. Source: National Library of Sweden. A decision is made to provide books approved for printing with a stamp with the word imprimatur (may be printed), followed by name of censor. 1748 Charles-Louis de Secondat 1748 Montesquieu publishes De l’Esprit des lois. It becomes illegal to print Swedish manuscripts and books outside the 1741 country. The measure comes in effect David Hume publishes Of the Liberty of the Press. to protect copyright. 1740 Frederick the Great of Prussia introduces shortlived easings in 1738 censorship. ‘That each and every citizen, without coercion or overseer, may present their thoughts to the public’s free Anders Nordencrantz is one of the fore- most pioneers of Sweden’s freedom of opinion [...] will help a free people the press. Portrait from the book The Men of Swedish Industry (Svenska industriens know themselves, their strengths män), 1875. Image: Wikipedia. and their weaknesses.’ Lord of the Chancery and later councillor of the state Henning Adolf Gyllenborg (1713 –1775) is the first to present demands for freedom of the press to the Swedish parliament in 1738. CENSORED WRITING ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 1730 The public officer Anders Nordencrantz Age of Liberty, (1697 –1772) publishes Arcana Oeconomiae 1719–1772 et Commercii, a work that in addition to During the Age of Liberty articles on national economics and politics the political power is also contains a section on increased free- transferred from the king dom of the press. The section is, however, to the Privy Council deleted by the censors before the work is (government) and the distributed. Nordencrantz later returns to parliament. A party the issue and becomes one of the most system consisting of the 1710 The Statute of Anne issued important opinion formers on the intro- so-called Caps and Hats in England. duction of freedom of the press. emerges and the public exchange of views be- comes a natural part of politics. Upheaval takes 1704 1706 Matthew Tindal and place in a variety of Daniel Defoe publish Reasons against Restraining the Press and Essay on areas and with them the Regulation of the Press comes growing demands respectively. for greater freedom of the press. 1686 ‘Now the hand was severed, and then the tongue by hook pulled out and cut off, soon thereafter the head knocked off and the body burnt on pyre, and finally hand and tongue nailed to a post on the square.’ Quote from Stories from Swedish History Charles XI establishes a special office, (Berättelser ur svenska historien). The engraving by Erik Dahlbergh (1625 –1703) depicts the island Koön, where the execution the censor librorum, for the treatment was carried out. Image: National Library of Sweden. of preventive censorship. EXECUTION Field surgeon Johan Henrik Schönheit (unknown 1684 –1706) is the only person in Sweden to be exe- cuted following a printing offense. His initial crime Charles XI issues a formal censorship had been to issue sections from Grimmelhausen’s statute, vindicating the monitoring of book publishing even further. The History of Joseph the Chaste (Histori vom keuschen statute remains in effect until preven- Joseph) without permission. The edition was with- tive censorship is abolished through the Freedom of the Press Act of 1766 drawn and Schönheit fled to Hamburg, Germany. (Tryckfrihetsförordningen)*. From there he continued to spread lampoons *The Swedish name of the law has changed over the years but for simplicity’s sake we refer to it as about the Swedish Privy Council. He was abducted, the Freedom of the Press Act in this context. brought to Sweden and sentenced to penal servi- tude for life. The severity of the penalty was later increased to execution by bodily mutilation for blasphemy and crimes against the Crown. UNFOLDED. #ThisIsFreedom 1759 ‘The life and strength of civil liberty consist of limited government and unlimited freedom of the written word.’ Botanist and explorer Peter Forsskål. ‘Longing for news from Sweden, [to see] what political changes there have been, and what fate my small publications have met’, As the father of modern botany Peter Forsskål wrote in a letter to Carl Linnaeus from Alexandria Carl Linnaeus named a non-stinging nettle Educated in both Uppsala 2 April 1762. Linnaeus’ reply is not known. The picture shows to the memory of Peter Forsskål. The nettle was named and Göttingen (Germany), Forsskål’s last letter to his former master, dated a little over a month Forsskaolea tenacissima, probably a tribute to Forsskål’s tenacity.