Sture Allén, born in 1928 in Gothenburg, Sweden, has been Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy since 1986. He published twenty books and some hundred and fifty papers, mainly in Scandinavian philology and computational linguistics. He is a member of many Swedish and international linguistic and literary committees, academies, and foundations, including the Nobel Prize Foundation. Professor Allén has received numerous distinctions, which include: H. M. the King’s Medal, 12th Size, in the Ribbon of the Order of the Seraphim for Eminent Scientific and Cultural Achievements (1987), Chester Carlson Research Prize (1988), and Knight Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (1994). Sture Allén lives in Stockholm.