Carl August Cederborg

in Swedish

Carl August Cederborg

1849-1933

Carl August Cederborg published more than 40 works and was a widely read author for many decades. Hopefully this story can attract new readers to his world of adventures and historical scenes in the Snapphane and Göinge areas of Skåne.

Cederborg was born in 1849 in Kviinge parish in Kristianstad - see the parish website hemsida↗.The father's name was Tufve Svensson and he had taken the name Cederborg. In his memoirs, Carl August writes lovingly about his mother Emma, born Löfvengren.

Carl August attended the Cathedral School in Lund for a few years, but pressured by his father's demands for high grades in subjects such as Latin, he had enough after three years.

For about ten years Carl August was a farmer, first on his father's rectory and then on his own farm. Poor finances forced him to seek other paths. After a period of employment in the newspaper Södra Sverige, he became a partner and editor in Skånes Allehanda, which was owned by Hans Österling. Today he is better known as the father of the poet, author and member of the Swedish Academy Anders Österling↗ svW

Wife and children

In 1877, C August married Olofva Kronholm from Landskrona and they had three children. Olofva died at the age of 51 and was buried in the Kronhamn family grave. Cederborg also rests there. Gravesite nd portrait ↓.

From newspaperman to author

Cederborg and Hans Österling also had their own printing house. In 1887 they published August Strindberg's Fadren (The father), at a time when other publishers did not want or dare to publish Strindberg. In Fernebring and Robertson's book there are two Strindberg letters to Cederborg..

In the early 1890s, Cederborg raised his ambitions from writing columns and daily journalism to writing books. In 1899, Göingehövdingen was published, and the following year Den siste snapphanen. In 1905, his career as a newspaperman ended and he became a full-time writer.

Large edition - 1,5 million

Cederborg's novels are said to have sold over one and a half million copies. The books about snapphanetiden↗ - senare delen av 1600-talet - är de mest välkända.

Today, you cannot buy any of Cederborg's books through the country's largest online bookstore. The annual library lending is around 4-6,000 of the total production. He is most widely read in Kristianstad and the surrounding area, in Malmö a few dozen are lent out per year.

Read the beginning of 'Göingehövdingen' ...
Göingehövdingen - Introduction

ÅThe year 1676 was fateful for Sweden and its newly conquered provinces. On June 29, King Christian V had landed in Råå [south of the city of Helsingborg] with a stately and formidable army, which the Swedish military force felt too weak to face, and at the same time the Danish general Gyldenlöwe invaded Bohuslän, broke through the Swedes' defense line south of Vänersborg and spread ravaging and burning across Västergötland. However, the main Swedish army in Skåne, 7,000 men under the command of Field Marshal Helmfelt, had retreated from the superior force, first across Kristianstad to Blekinge, then up to Småland. The retreat was almost like a flight ...

Chapter 1. The Priest and the Gypsy Woman

On the afternoon of June 6, 1677, a rider of rather strange appearance was seen slowly traveling along the narrow, winding road that leads from the church village of Kviinge in the southern part of Östra Göinge district to the old noble castle of Wanås, located half a mile away. The man was tall and the horse was small, and the rider's feet, shod in huge wooden stirrups, were in threatening proximity to the bumpy and rocky road. He was a thin, lanky figure whose angular, as if carved from wood, features would have given the whole figure a repulsive look, if the small, quick eyes had not lent a glimmer of alert intelligence to the rigid face adorned with a graying chin and bushy moustache.... Quote from the book Göingehövdingen by Carl August Cederborg -

A few comments

The quotes above present both the time period and the narrative style. In Fernebring and Robertson's book, many people talk about how much joy they got from reading Cederborg's books..

The book publisher Gerhard Bonnier wrote, at only 12 years old, a letter to Cederborg

Although I am the son of a book publisher and think that all books should be published by my father's publishing house, I have to write and say that the best books I know are published by another publisher. I think that no books are as good as Cederborg's novels. I have read them all and think very highly of them all, but the best of Göingehövdingen. I have read almost all the historical novels for boys, but I think Herr Cederborg's is the best..« And he concludes. Please, Mr. Cederborg, write a few lines so that I at least get Mr. Cederborg's signature..

And Cederborg replies: Among the many letters I have received from older and younger readers of my books, yours are among the most welcome.. Source: Eva Bonnier about six generations of Bonnier's. Pdf

Literary historian Britt Dahlström says of his writing; Outstandingly good! It is both entertaining, exciting plots and interesting characters... He is meticulous with facts and has learned how people lived..

Jan-OLof Olsson - Jolo writes in a newspaper on August 17, 1972; From my early childhood, Elanders printing house in Gothenburg has been close to my heart because it was there that my favorite author of the time was printed. His name was Carl August Cederborg ...

Many years later, Jolo encounters his forgotten favorite author again.....

Imagine my surprise when I walked into a bookstore in the huge shopping mall in Västerås this spring and found baskets of Cederborg novels at a reduced price. Suddenly memories of the long reading evenings of Cederborg' novels came back to me and I bought kilos of him again ... You can spend twelve years slowly working your way through Marcel Proust without making any progress, while you squeeze in two Cederborgs in one evening. You wonder how the story will develop and can't help but be excited....

The years in Stockholm

In 1905 Cederborg moved to Stockholm. In his first years he lived in the city, but in 1914 he moved to Tattbyvägen in Saltsjöbaden. Here he wrote 26 of the more than 40 works that were published. His daughters Helga and Blenda had remained unmarried and moved into the house in Saltsjöbaden. Hilma Andersson, 1873 - 1955, was for many years - until 1929, the family's housekeeper and on the back of a card from himself, he wrote C. Aug. Cederborg to Miss. Hilma Andersson with a heartfelt thank you for many years of faithful service.

Biography about Cederborg

If you want to know more about Cederborg's life and get an excellent introduction to how he thought and what he wanted with his writing, you must readC. Aug. Cederborg, Snapphanetidens storyteller av Lars Fernebring↗ svW and Mac Robertsson. Their book is the main source for this IDstory.

On Lars Fernebring's website, there is also the story of the creative coincidence that gave material and origin to their book. Cederborg's daughter Helga donated a wealth of archive material to the University Library in Lund in 1968..

The text is C. Aug. Cederborg 1849 - 1933
Olofva Cederborg, born Kronhamn, 1853 - 1904

The gravesite is at Landskrona nya kyrkogård in block 25.

References

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• L Fernebring, M Robertsson: 'C Aug. Cederborg'
• Cemetary map
• Om snapphanarna - Wikipedia
• About the Snaphane's history in English, in English
• Text/new photos: Johan Schlasberg

Published: 2007.03 Updated: 2025.06.19

Kategorier 20 Historical persons 45 Landskrona 14

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