View source for Biography:Nathan Söderblom

{{Short description|Swedish bishop}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = archbishop
| honorific-prefix = The Most Reverend
| name = Nathan Söderblom
| title = Archbishop of Uppsala<br>[[Religion:Primate (bishop)|Primate of Sweden]]
| image =  Nathan Söderblom nobel.jpg
| imagesize = 
| church = Church of Sweden
| diocese = Uppsala
| elected = 20 May 1914
| term = 1914–1931
| predecessor = Johan August Ekman
| successor = Erling Eidem
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination = 1893 (priest)
| consecration = 8 November 1914
| consecrated_by = Gottfrid Billing
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name = Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom
| birth_place = Trönö, Sweden
| death_date = {{death date and age|1931|07|12|1866|1|15|df=yes}}
| death_place = Uppsala, Sweden
| nationality = Swedish
| religion = Church of Sweden
| parents = Jonas Söderblom and Nikolina Sophie Blûme
| spouse = Anna Söderblom (born as Forsell) (1870–1955)
| children = 12
| alma_mater = [[Organization:Uppsala University|Uppsala University]]
}}
{{Ordination
| date of diaconal ordination =
| place of diaconal ordination =
| ordained deacon by =
| date of priestly ordination = 1893
| place of priestly ordination = 
| ordained priest by = Gottfrid Billing
| date of consecration = 8 November 1914
| place of consecration = Uppsala Cathedral
| consecrated by = Gottfrid Billing
}}
[[File:Nathan söderblom bust.jpg| 250 px|right|Bust of Nathan Söderblom at Kungsholms Church in Stockholm, Sweden]]
'''Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom''' ({{IPA-sv|ˈnɑ̌ːtan ˈsø̌ːdɛrblʊm|-}}; 15 January 1866 &ndash; 12 July 1931) was a Swedish bishop. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala from 1914 to 1931,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Religious_Organizations.html#Swedish|title=Religious Organizations|publisher=World Statesmen|language=sv|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 12 July.<ref name=sok>{{cite web|url=  https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1930/soderblom/biographical/|title = Nathan Söderblom|website= The Nobel Foundation
|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Söderblom was born in the village of Trönö in Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County. His father was a parish priest. He enrolled at [[Organization:Uppsala University|Uppsala University]] in 1883. Although not initially convinced what he wanted to study, he eventually decided to follow in his father's footsteps. On returning from a journey to the United States, he was ordained as a priest in 1893. During the years 1892 and 1893, he was first vice president and then president of the [[Astronomy:Uppsala Student Union|Uppsala Student Union]].<ref name="sok"/>

From 1894 to 1901, he had a ministry position at the Swedish Embassy in [[Place:Paris|Paris]], where his congregation included both Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) and [[Biography:August Strindberg|August Strindberg]] (1849–1912). In 1897, he officiated at the memorial service for Nobel. From 1901 to 1914, Söderblom held a chair in the School of Theology at Uppsala University and from 1912 to 1914 was also a professor of [[Religious studies|religious studies]] at [[Organization:Leipzig University|Leipzig University]]. In 1914, he was elected as Archbishop of Uppsala, the head of the Lutheran church in Sweden. During the First World War, he called on all Christian leaders to work for peace and justice while working to alleviate the conditions of prisoners of war and refugees.<ref>{{cite web|url=  https://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/nathan-s%C3%B6derblom|title = Nathan Söderblom|website= The Giffordlectures 
|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>

He believed that church unity had the specific purpose of presenting the gospel to the world and that the messages of Jesus were relevant to social life. His leadership of the Christian "Life and Work" movement in the 1920s has led him to be recognised as one of the principal founders of the [[Religion:Ecumenism|ecumenical movement]]. He had begun the movement toward intercommunion between the Church of Sweden and the Church of England and was a close associate of the English ecumenist George Bell (1883–1958), Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester. He was instrumental in chairing the World Conference of Life and Work in Stockholm, in 1925. In 1930 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.<ref name="sok"/><ref>{{cite web|url= https://peaceprizelaureates.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/laureate/1930-nathan-soederblom |title = Nathan Söderblom 1930|website=Nobel Peace Center
|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>

==Selected works==
*''Den enskilde och kyrkan : föredrag'' (1909)
*''Helighet och kultur'' (1913)
*''Gudstrons uppkomst'' (1914)
* [http://libproject.hkbu.edu.hk/was40/search?channelid=12668&searchword=%27%25%27%20and%20(Author_facet=%27S%C3%B6derblom,%20Nathan%20%27)&sortfield=%2BTitle_foreign  9 Works by Nathan Söderblom] at The Documentation of Chinese Christianity program, Hong Kong Baptist University Library

==See also==
*World Council of Churches
*[[Religion:Ecumenism|Ecumenism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Other sources==
*Andrae, Tor J.E. (1931) ''Nathan Söderblom'' (Uppsala University)
*Curtis, Charles J. (1967) ''Söderblom: Ecumenical Pioneer'' (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House)
*Jonson, Jonas (2016) ''Nathan Söderblom: Called to Serve'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company) {{ISBN|0802873081}}
*Katz, Peter (1949) ''Nathan Söderblom: A Prophet of Christian Unity'' (London, James Clarke) 
*Sundkler, Beng (1968) ''Nathan Söderblom: His Life and Work'' (Lutterworth Press) {{ISBN|9780718815738}} 

== Further reading ==
*Dietz Lange, ''Nathan Söderblom und seine Zeit'', Göttingen 2011
*Klas Hansson, ''Nathan Söderblom's ecumenical cope. A visualization of a theological and ecumenical concept''. Studia Theologica – Nordic Journal of Theology, vol 66, issue 1, 2012

==External links==
* {{Nobelprize}}
* [https://archive.today/20130416073840/http://dstp.cba.pl/?p=6827 The Content of Christian Faith, a reflection by Nathan Söderblom]
* {{PM20}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|title=Archbishop of Uppsala<br />''Primate of Sweden'' |before=Johan August Ekman|after=Erling Eidem|years=1914–1931}}
{{s-culture}}
{{Succession box|title=Swedish Academy,<br/>Seat {{Abbr|No.|Number}} 16|before=Waldemar Rudin|after=Tor Andræ|years=1921–1932}}
{{s-ach}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Biography:Frank B. Kellogg|Frank B. Kellogg]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize|years=1930}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Biography:Nicholas Murray Butler|Nicholas Murray Butler]]<br/>and [[Biography:Jane Addams|Jane Addams]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Nobel Peace Prize Laureates 1926-1950}}



{{DEFAULTSORT:Soderblom, Nathan}}
[[Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates]]

{{Sourceattribution|Nathan Söderblom}}