Scandal Rocks Sweden’s Jury for Nobel Prize in Literature Swedish Academy in turmoil over fallout from ties to photographer accused of sexual assault By David Gauthier-Villars
https://www.wsj.com/articles/swedish-academy-faces-departures-over-sexual-assault-scandal-1523632844
STOCKHOLM—The Swedish Academy, the body responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature, is in crisis over its handling of a sexual-assault scandal.
The academy said late Thursday that two of its members— Sara Danius, its permanent secretary, and poet Katarina Frostenson, whose husband has been accused of sexual assault—had retired, the latest episode in a blame game that has consumed the prestigious institution for months.
The scandal broke in November when Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter published the testimonies of 18 women accusing a 71-year-old Franco-Swedish photographer, Jean-Claude Arnault, of sexual assault and sexual harassment between 1996 and 2017.
The accusations, which Mr. Arnault denies, have ricocheted onto the institution because the photographer, a prominent figure in Sweden’s cultural life, is married to Ms. Frostenson, and because the academy has provided financial support to some of his cultural projects.
Last week, three male jury members vacated their seats to protest against a decision by the academy not to expel Ms. Frostenson after an investigation by a law firm found she had improperly benefited from the academy’s support for her husband’s projects.
“When prominent voices within the academy choose to put friendship and other irrelevant regards before the responsibility for its integrity—then I can no longer proceed with the work,” Kjell Espmark wrote in a message to Dagens Nyheter upon resigning last week.
Ms. Frostenson hasn’t commented on her departure or the allegations of impropriety. Efforts to reach her were unsuccessful.
Also stepping down on Thursday was Ms. Danius, whose face had sprung up on world television when as the academy’s permanent secretary, she announced that the Nobel Prize in Literature was being awarded to Bob Dylan in 2016.
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