It's as if a circle has come full circle. Those who have seen last year's documentary about Siw Malmkvist will surely remember the scene in the film when the beloved artist carefully fills out the application for the Cornelis Prize, the cultural scholarship awarded in memory of the Cornelis Vreeswijk Foundation.
For the fifth time and almost reluctantly.
I thought this is the last time I'm doing it. "I don't give a damn." And so I sent it away, she says, laughing.
But now Siw Malmkvist is getting the award. She could hardly believe it when the phone call came from the chairman of the jury, lawyer Anton Strand.
At first I thought it was some kind of trick, but then I recognized the name of the lawyer who called and told me about it, says Siw Malmkvist.
Toured together
Schlager star Siw Malmkvist and poet Cornelis Vreeswijk had seemingly very different artistic careers, but they knew each other. Both were on the Metronome record label in the 1960s and worked with producer Anders Burman.
They even toured together in the folk parks at the beginning of Cornelis' career in the mid-1960s.
I thought he was "cool". He was cute and nice. But I didn't like him drinking. He did on tour, after the shows, actually.
Cornelis Vreeswijk died in 1987, just 50 years old and essentially destitute. The award in his memory has grown in size over the years with the steady royalty income as new generations have discovered and begun to stream the beloved artist's songs.
“Sad”
Now the winner will receive a whopping one million kronor. Siw Malmkvist ponders what Cornelis Vreeswijk would think about it, if he knew.
It's sad. He was poor when he died. We were at Metronome together and they made sure to portion out the money and pay the taxes. For me, that was great. But he got so angry and wanted the money right away. They did whatever they wanted to him and it wasn't good.
After the documentary about Siw Malmkvist, which first became a box office hit last fall and has since gained a large audience on SVT, the artist is hotter than ever. Last year she was also the Christmas host on SVT. On New Year's Eve she turns 90.
I can't understand it! Because inside I don't recognize it. Sometimes when I think about being 90, I think it doesn't sound wise, says Siw Malmkvist and laughs.
The Cornelis Prize is a cultural scholarship that has been awarded annually since 1988 by the Cornelis Vreeswijk Foundation in Memory, based on the return on copyright revenue from his works. This year's prize money is 1 million kronor.
To be eligible for the award, the recipient must be over 35 years of age, fluent in Swedish and active in Sweden.
Recent years' laureates: 2026 Siw Malmkvist, 2025 John Holm, 2024 Monica Törnell, 2023 Ulf Dageby, 2022 Dogge Doggelito, 2021 Lasse Berghagen, 2020 Kjell Höglund.
A Weekend for Cornelis will be held at Cirkus in Stockholm on September 11–12. In addition to Siw Malmkvist, performances will include Rebecka Törnqvist, Louise Hoffsten, Tommy Körberg, Lisa Nilsson, Olle Jönsson and Cornelis' grandson Olle Vreeswijk.
89 years old. Born in Landskrona. Had her breakthrough in 1959, when she became the hostess of Lennart Hyland's TV program "Stora famnen" and won the Melodifestivalen with "Augustin".
In parallel with big hits like “Tunna skivor”, “Flickor bak i bilen” and “Mamma är lik sin mamma” in Sweden during the 1960s, she also became a big star in West Germany. In 1964, she topped the charts there with “Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht”.
There have been a total of 42 songs on Svensktoppen. On stage, she played Pippi Longstocking in a well-received production in 1980 and was a success in the musical "Nine" in 1983–1984.
In 2016, she was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame. This year, she received the honorary award at the Grammis gala and was named darling of the year at the QX gala. The documentary "The Film about Siw" also received the Guldbaggen audience award.
