BOYE, KARIN (MARIA)

born Oct. 26, 1900, Gteborg, Swed. died April 24, 1941, Alingss poet, novelist, and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the leading poets of Swedish modernism. She studied at the universities of Uppsala and Stockholm, became a leading figure in the Clart Socialist movement inspired by the French novelist Henri Barbusse, and worked on Spektrum, a review propagating psychoanalytical theory and modernistic literary views. Her five collections of poemsbeginning with Moln (1922; Clouds) and ending with the posthumously published De sju ddssynderna (1941; The Seven Deadly Sins)show the evolution of her outlook and style from the simple expression of a middle-class girl's dreams and a young radical's eager acceptance of life to bolder images, wider perspectives, and feeling for the problems of mankind. Among her novels are Kris (1934; Crisis), based on her struggle to accept her lesbianism, and Kallocain (1940; Eng. trans.,1940), which describes the insupportable oppression of a totalitarian society of the future. During World War II Karin Boye committed suicide.