Hannes Sköld

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Johannes Evelinus "Hannes" Sköld (20 September 1886 – 14 September 1930) was a Swedish socialist, anti-militarist, linguist, teacher, writer, poet and songwriter. He was born in Heby, Sweden. Much of his childhood was spent in China because his father was a missionary. The family moved back to Sweden in 1897 and settled in Norrköping, where he befriended Ture Nerman. After high school he studied at the University of Gothenburg and became active with Zeth Höglund in the left wing of the workers' movement. As a young bohemian, he traveled around Europe and lived in Paris and Copenhagen, writing for Swedish newspapers. He published his first book of poetry in 1911 and was jailed that year for spreading anti-militarist propaganda. His second book appeared in 1912, written while he was in prison. He became a communist in 1917 after the Russian Revolution, moved to the Soviet Union, learned Russian, and translated works by Bolshevik leaders, Karl Marx and August Bebel into Swedish. He died in Höör, Sweden, on 14 September 1930 at age 43.