What a line-up for Sweden ... Borg, ABBA, IKEA

Alex Murphy13 April 2012

The land of smorgasbord and Saab might have a reputation for dullness, but it's totally undeserved. To mark the meeting of our two great nations, here are 10 revered Scandinavians who would liven up any party, as hand-picked by

Alex Murphy...

King Gustavus Adolphus 1594-1632

The Swedes are supposed to be peaceful, but nobody mentioned that to King Gus, who led them into the Thirty Years War which kicked off in 1618. In 1632, the Swedes beat the Germans at Lutzen, but Gus missed the Final when he was dragged from his horse and murdered.

Alfred Nobel 1833-96

The Stockholm-born chemist invented dynamite, but was upset when the world used his discovery to blow people up. What else did he expect? In a humanitarian gesture, he left his fortune to a foundation which funds annual awards in fields of peace, medicine, physics, chemistry and literature.

August Strindberg 1849-1912

If you discount the linguistic genius behind ABBA's work, Strindberg was the greatest Swedish writer ever. He had what you might call a full life. Strindberg began as a newspaper reporter and worked his way up to become a manic depressive, a misogynist and an alcoholic. He married three times, but never happily. The poor chap died a solitary, miserable death. But that's the way he would have wanted to go. Two of his least unpopular works are a play called The Dance Of Death and a novel entitled Loneliness. That gives you a flavour.

Greta Garbo 1905-1990

"I want to be alone," the lady said, and she wasn't kidding. After travelling from her native Stockholm to Hollywood, Garbo became the world's biggest female star. But disenchanted with the picture business, she packed it in early and lived as a recluse in a New York apartment for the last 30 years of her life. As enigmatic, camera-shy hermits go, she made Howard Hughes look like Michael Barrymore.

Ingrid Bergman 1915-82

If there was a World Cup for the sexiest film stars of all time, Bergman, representing Sweden, would certainly be in the Final. She might win that clash on penalties against England, in the figure of Julie Christie, possibly, but we'll never know. One thing is for sure. The shimmering, sophisticated cool she showed in Casablanca makes the current crop of Hollywood leading ladies look like a bunch of blowsy street-walkers. Harsh? Perhaps. But director David Selznick was convinced. He said: "The minute I looked at her I knew I had something. She had an extraordinary quality of purity and nobility and a definite star personality that is rare."

Ingmar Bergman 1918-

Film director of the Scandinavian Miserabilism School. Bergman's dad was a Lutheran pastor and young Ingmar never quite shook off the sneaking feeling that we are all going to burn in Hell. Films he would never make: Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo and Honey I Shrunk The Kids. Most of his work is made up of long inquisitions into the nature of existence. He once said: "I try to tell the truth about the human condition, as I see it." A bit like Trevor Brooking.

Ingvar Kamprad 1926-

The founder of IKEA. His first UK store opened in 1987 and brought budget flat-pack furniture to the masses. Thanks to Kevin Keegan, Sven-Goran Eriksson was left with a shoddy assortment of ill-fitting components and the challenge of building something half-decent out of them. Lucky for us, Eriksson managed it.

Olof Palme 1927-86

Palme is Sweden's JFK. The liberal ex-Prime Minister was gunned down like a dog in the street on his way home from the cinema and mystery still surrounds his death. The finger has been pointed at Kurdish militants, disgruntled security service operatives, South African nazis and even a lonewolf assassin. No one really knows who did it. One theory has not yet been investigated: on his last fateful cinema trip, could Palme have watched one of Ingmar Bergman's movies (see No6), then shot himself in a fit of existential angst?

Bjorn Borg 1956-When

With all due respect to golfer Jesper Parnevik and former Crystal Palace legend Tomas Brolin, Borg remains the greatest Swedish sportsman of all time. He won six French Opens and five Wimbledons on the trot from 1976. When he retired, Borg dabbled with ladies' underwear for a while when he got involved in a lingerie business, but it didn't go well. There were two busted marriages and reports of a suicide attempt in 1989, but he now keeps himself busy playing oldtimers like Nastase and McEnroe on the seniors' circuit.

ABBA 1974-82

Sweden has given the world four wonderful exports: super-reliable estate cars from Volvo; bewilderingly-named furniture from IKEA; headspinning vodka from Absolut and, arguably, the finest power-pop combo the world has ever seen. They burst on the scene by winning the Eurovision Song Contest 27 years ago, but their songs are still sung. To Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, one simple tribute: Thank You For The Music.

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