 Vi magazine cover, 12 February 1944 | |
| Frequency | monthly |
|---|---|
| Format | magazine |
| Publisher | Bonnier Publications AB |
| Paid circulation | 37,200 |
| First issue | 1913 |
| Company | Kooperativa Förbundet |
| Country | Sweden |
| Based in | Stockholm, |
| Language | Swedish |
| Website | https://vi.se/ |
| ISSN | 0346-4180 |
Vi is a Swedish lifestyle magazine founded in 1913. It is headquartered in Stockholm.
A cooperative association founded the newspaper Konsumentbladet ('Consumer Magazine') in 1913, which at first was a weekly newspaper of four pages with editorials, articles, cartoons, a short story and reviews about cooperatives and household economics. From January 1914, regular publication started, immediately achieving a circulation of 40,000 copies.
In 1924, the ideological content was reduced and Konsumentbladet was transformed into a family newspaper "for Sweden's household" and its circulation rose to 300,000 copies.
It was retitled Vi (in English; 'We') in 1937, [1] in accord with the adoption of short titles and striking mastheads by the abundance of picture magazines of the era, like LIFE (1936) and LOOK (1937) in the US, Post (1938) and Lilliput (1937) in the UK (1938), and Vu (1928) and Regards (1932) in France, [2] and a corresponding commitment to a house style based on New Typography made by Vi's publisher Kooperativa Förbundet. [3] Rune Hassner writes:
"Only a handful of illustrated periodicals have actually significantly deviated from the standard pattern of the popular press and more consciously sought to use the photographic image reportage to inform about social conditions and political or economic issues that vitally affected the readers' own well-being. At the same time, several of these magazines have become forerunners in terms of tight, efficient image presentation and high image quality. Among them can be mentioned the German-founded Arbeiter Illustrierte-Zeitung (A-I-Z), the Soviet Russian SSSR na Strojke (U S S R in Construction), the French weekly Vu and two of the main exponents of the popular weekly press in Europe in the 1930s, the English Picture Post and Weekly Illustrated, The Survey in the USA and the Swedish weekly Vi." [4]
Vi was subtitled "the weekly newspaper owned by its readership". [5] First editor-in-chief Seved Apelqvist in Vi no. 18, 1945, announced the magazine's intentions:
"Vi will amuse and entertain without dumbing down. We want to reflect the reality of the present but not falsify it. […] We want to broaden horizons.” [6]
In the 1980s Vi magazine initiated a tree planting project, the Vi-skogen ('Vi forest'), in the countries around Lake Victoria in Africa. One who inspired the project was Harry Lindquist. [7] The project, using readers' donations, plants trees to prevent desertification. By 2006 over 100 million trees had been planted involving 1.5 million people who at the same time have benefited from better living conditions. [8]
Known for its photojournalism, Vi published many Swedish photographers, such as Hans Malmberg, Georg Oddner [9] and Tore Johnson [4] [10] (members of the agency Tio fotografer) early in their careers. Photographer Anna Riwkin in 1942, and working for Vi, traveled to Lapland for a report on a Sami village. [11] She and the journalist Elly Jannes returned several times, resulting in books about Sami life and the very popular children's book Elle Kari . [12] Having established himself in 1938, until 1946, Karl W. Gullers contributed pictures to Vi, with a cover story 'The Black Metropolis,' [13] [4] and also wrote articles himself. In the spring of 1945 he made around 30 photographs in Malmö of the arrival on white buses of former Nazi concentration camp survivors for the magazine. The impact of his photographs influenced the Swedish aid effort. [14]
Stefan Gurt, in his Så dödar vi en människa ('That's how we kill a human being') remembers;
"The Swedish image of China is often strange. The country is so far away and the culture is so foreign that it is easy to use it as a canvas on which to project wishful dreams or fears ... I remember a picture of a group of uniformed twelve-year-olds in Vi magazine, when I was little you got it if you were a member of Konsum. The children lunged with bayonets, their faces contorted with rage. - The caption explained that in China they had to educate children that way because Chinese people lack natural aggression." [15]
Vi specialised in contemporary social reportage and fiction by authors including Evert Taube, [16] Stig Dagerman, Vilhelm Moberg, Karin Boye, Nils Ferlin, Moa Martinson, Lubbe Nordström and Ivar Lo-Johansson, [10] who in 1949 campaigned for improved living conditions for the elderly, [17] and more recently Karolina Ramqvist and Anna-Karin Palm. [6] Children's literature was included through collaboration with Astrid Lindgren (author of Pippi Longstocking) to publish extracts from her series on mischievous children in an old-fashioned village, Barnen i Bullerbyn ('The children in Bullerbyn'). Lennart Hellsing's stories appeared with illustrations by Stig Lindberg. [18]
The 12 February 1944 cover displayed a portrait of "Ingrid Bergman, intelligent film woman," announcing an article on "women in American and Swedish film," and others titled "Folk movements and art;" "Hofors, lively community in the middle of the forest;" "The truth about Hong Kong;" and invited readers to enter a literary prize competition.
The magazine in 1942, against criticism from Stockholms-Tidningen , conducted the first opinion polls in Sweden. [19]
In 1947 Vi achieved its largest circulation; 676,000 copies, corresponding to 40 percent of Sweden's households. [1]
From the 1950s, more space was devoted to photographs and foreign reportage [20] and environmental journalism increased, [1] [21] though it did not lose sight of its original identity as a consumer magazine. [22] It was the first in Sweden to present a translation of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring . In 1974, it published Anna-Britt Agnsäter's pioneering food pyramid, which would later be adapted for use internationally. [23]
In 1988, the magazine, loss-making during the economic downturn of the 1970s, was spun off from the Kooperativa Förbundet, and is today viably profitable in the hands of AB Tidningen Vi, owned by the Kooperativa Förbundet. By the 1990s Stefan Andhé, in Läsning för smått desperata ('Reading for the slightly desperate') was describing Vi as "Konsum's provincial old membership magazine that has gone and become a wise but worldly 90s weekly magazine, almost suave." [24]
In 2005, the magazine switched from fortnightly to monthly publication and a modern glossy format. [25]
In 2006, a series of articles, Vändpunkten (lit. 'Turning point') began, in which famous and ordinary people talked about events that caused their lives to change direction, [26] which in the case of Michael Nuquist, generated an audio book. [27]
In 2008, the sister magazine Vi läser was started. [1] [28]
2011, a period renewal under the editorship of Sofia Wadensjö Karén saw the creation of a new position of senior editor was established and was taken up by Stina Jofs, who in 2007 was nominated for the Stora Journalistpriset in the category "Storyteller of the Year". [29]
In 1975, Lars Westman for his articles on Swedish trials received the Stora Journalist prize, awarded also in 1977 to Stig Edling and Hans Nestius for their review of the National Board of Health and Welfare. In 2007, the newspaper won the prize for Magazine of the Year in the category popular press under 50,000 copies, which is awarded by the industry organization Publishingpriset. [30] The jury's justification was "A classic that manages to maintain its high quality year after year". [28]
Vi itself has, since 1947, offered the Tidningen Vi:s litteraturpris , a monetary award increased to SEK 50,000 in 2008 (a value in 2022 of US$4,427), and diploma, for Swedish fiction writers. From 1947–1991, the newspaper received scholarship funds from the Kooperativa Förbundet book publishing house and the Boklotteriet (Book Lottery) 1948–1965 which continued as the Litteraturfrämjandet ('Promotion of literature') until 1992 after which the magazine alone has been responsible for the entire scholarship amount.
Carin Sophie Adlersparre, known under the pen-name Esselde was one of the pioneers of the 19th-century women's rights movement in Sweden. She was the founder and editor of the first women's magazine in Scandinavia, Home Review, in 1859–1885; co-founder of Friends of Handicraft in 1874–1887; founder of the Fredrika Bremer Association (Fredrika-Bremer-förbundet) in 1884; and one of the first two women to be a member of a state committee in Sweden in 1885.
Herbert Lars Gustaf Tingsten was a Swedish political scientist, writer and newspaper publisher. An influential figure in Swedish political science, he was a professor of political science at Stockholm University from 1935 to 1946, and executive editor of the newspaper Dagens Nyheter from 1946 to 1959.
Carl Jonas Wærn was a Swedish Army officer best known for having commanded Swedish, Irish, and Indian peacekeeping troops during the Congo Crisis. He also commanded Swedish forces in Cyprus in 1964. Wærn is one of only two Swedish officers who have served as brigade commanders in combat under the auspices of the United Nations. Later, he served as aide-de-camp to King Gustaf VI Adolf and as cabinet chamberlain.
Gunnar Cederschiöld was a Swedish author, image artist and fencer.
Borislav Arapović is a Bosnian-Croatian born poet, linguist, literary scholar and Bible translator. He adopted Swedish nationality and writes in Swedish and Croatian. In 1999 he was elected a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences primarily for his services to minority languages.
Eva Moberg (1932–2011) was a Swedish author, playwright, and debater.
Lisa Larson was a Swedish ceramicist and designer. She is best known for her sculptures Small Zoo (1955), ABC-girls (1958), Africa (1964) and Children of the World (1974–1975).
The Swedish Workers Union was a labour organization in Sweden active between 1899 and 1919. Josef P. Nilsson was one of the key leaders of the organization. SvA sought to compete with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) for dominance of the Swedish labour movement, but remained a largely marginal feature. Being sponsored by corporate interests, SvA was commonly denounced as a yellow union. Following the 1909 general strike SvA faded away.
Dik Manusch was a street newspaper published in northern Sweden. First published in early 2015 and focused on the Västerbotten province, the newspaper aimed to help homeless European Union migrants – who are primarily Romani people from the Balkans, especially Romania – to support themselves by providing an alternative to begging on the streets. Distributed for free to the migrants, each newspaper was sold for 50 Swedish krona, the profits going entirely to the seller. A second purpose was to create a debate in Swedish society about the conditions faced by these people.
Hilda Augusta Amanda Kerfstedt, née Hallström, was a Swedish novelist, playwright and translator. She was a popular and noted writer in late 19th and early 20th century Sweden, and participated in the public debate. She was also engaged in the movement for women's rights, and active in the Fredrika Bremer Association and Married Woman's Property Rights Association. As a feminist, she focused on the debate around sexual equality, and was critical to the contemporary sexual double standards for men and women. As such, she was one of the participants in the Nordic sexual morality debate, the public debate in Swedish papers, books and plays, which took place during the 1880s. Kerfstedt was a member of the women's association Nya Idun and one of its first committee members. She was the editor of the feminist paper Dagny, the publication of the Fredrika Bremer Association, in 1888–1891. She was especially noted within the debate on children's literature.
Nils Emil Thedin was a Swedish businessman and civic leader.
Admiral Stig (Hansson) H:son Ericson was a Swedish Navy naval officer. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Coastal Fleet from 1950 to 1953 and the Chief of the Navy from 1953 to 1961. After retiring from the Navy in 1961, Ericson held court offices in the Royal Court of Sweden. He was First Marshal of the Court from 1962 to 1973 and Marshal of the Realm from 1966 to 1976.
Magda Gad is a Swedish war correspondent and Middle Eastern analyst who writes, photographs and films her stories.
Kurt von Schmalensee was a Swedish architect.
Sigrid Agneta Sofia Elmblad, born Sigrid Agneta Sofia Pettersson, was a Swedish journalist, poet, translator and writer, who translated Der Ring des Nibelungen into Swedish and produced the first Swedish translation of the song of Saint Lucy. she produced her first poems under the pseudonym Toivo. Born in Stockholm to a Swedish father and Finnish mother, she was an early member of the Nya Idun society, rising to be chair between 1918 and 1921. After working as a journalist for the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, she travelled extensively with her husband, the opera singer Johannes Elmblad. While living in Bayreuth, she developed her interest in the music of Richard Wagner, which led her to translate his works into Swedish, including Parsifal in 1917, and the work of other German composers like Robert Schumann. She also wrote fiction for adults and children, as well as biographies for figures like Jenny Lind in 1920. She died in Sweden six years later.
Dagny was a women's magazine that existed between 1886 and 1913 in Stockholm, Sweden. The title of the magazine bore the statement Utgifvet af Fredrika-Bremer Förbundet, indicating its publisher. It was subtitled as Tidskrift för sociala och litterära intressen. It is the first Swedish magazine which covered social issues from women's perspective and assumed a leading position in the suffrage movement in Sweden from 1903.
The Maranata movement is a Swedish Christian Pentecostal free church movement.
Hans Henry Malmberg was a Swedish photojournalist. He was a member of the photographic collective Tio fotografer.
Anna-Britt Elisabet Agnsäter, née Johansson, was a Swedish home economics teacher and head of the test kitchen for Kooperativa Förbundet, a Swedish consumers' cooperative federation, from 1946 to 1980. She was the author of several popular Swedish cookbooks, including Vår kokbok. Her ambition as the developer of the food pyramid was to improve Sweden's dietary habits; it became widely accepted both in Sweden and internationally.
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