Famous Swedish Media Personalities

Currently based in Oxfordshire, England, Sweden-born television presenter Ulrika Jonsson moved to the United Kingdom as a child and began her career as a TV-am weather presenter, eventually climbing her way up, presenting many popular television series in England and Sweden. Equally successful as a model and as an actress, she has also authored an autobiography.

Svante Thunberg is a Swedish actor, producer, and writer. He is married to opera singer Malena Ernman and has two daughters, Greta and Beata. Greta is a prominent climate activist, who first rose to worldwide prominence when she initiated the school strike for climate. Svante accompanies his daughter on her sailing expeditions to UN climate summits. 

The author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman has also been a columnist for the Swedish newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad and the men's magazine Moore Magazine. His book Things My Son Needs to Know about the World was based on his parenting experiences.

David Lagercrantz is a Swedish author and journalist best known for writing internationally acclaimed books like I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, and The Girl in the Spider’s Web. His biography of Zlatan Ibrahimović has been translated into over 30 languages and is widely regarded as the best footballer's autobiography of his generation.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves is an Estonian politician who served as the President of Estonia from 9 October 2006 to 10 October 2016. He also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs on two occasions; from 1996 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2002. Toomas Hendrik Ilves also led the Social Democratic Party during the 1990s.

Petra Marklund is a Swedish singer-songwriter best known for her hit single Cry for You which peaked at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart. The song is part of her third studio album In Orbit, which earned her a Grammi Award. Petra Marklund is also known for her hit single Mikrofonkåt, which was certified 8x Platinum in Sweden.      

Margot Wallstrom is a Swedish politician best known for serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden from 2014 to 2019. Over the course of her illustrious political career, Margot Wallstrom has also served as the Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 2016 to 2019 as well as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019.

Swedish author Jonas Jonasson is best known for his bestselling comic novel The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. He had a successful career as a journalist and even owned a media company, but later sold all his belongings and settled near Lake Lugano, focusing on his writing career.

Before venturing into a writing career, Hans Rosenfeldt had been a sea lion keeper, a teacher, a driver, and an actor. Now known for creating series such as The Bridge and Marcella, he has also co-written several crime novels, such as The Secret, with his friend and co-author Michael Hjorth.

Alice Bah Kuhnke was appointed the Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy in October 2014 and continued in the office till January 2019. Thereafter, in 2019 she was elected as one of the 20 Members of the European Parliament in Sweden. The Swedish politician, who played a role in establishing the think tank Sektor3, was a television personality earlier.

Sanna Nielsen is a Swedish television presenter and singer who represented Sweden at the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark where she finished third. In 2015, she hosted Melodifestivalen, a music competition that decides Sweden's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Elizabeth Lejonhjärta is a Swedish model, writer, blogger, and social media personality. Elizabeth and her twin sister Victoria Lejonhjärta achieved international fame when they collaborated with popular Canadian rapper Drake for his 2016 album Views. Popularly known as the it girls in Sweden, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta have modeled for brands like Calvin Klein, Nike, Chanel, and Max Factor.

A French citizen by birth, but born and raised in Sweden, it took Jan Guillou thirty years to gain Swedish citizenship. Expelled from school for bad behavior, he overcame his shortcomings to become an award-winning journalist and author, hugging limelight for exposing Swedish secret intelligence agency. Currently owner of a large publishing house, he remains active as a column writer.

Peg Parnevik is a Swedish-American television personality, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for appearing on the popular reality TV show Parneviks, which follows the lives of Parnevik and her family members. Peg Parnevik is also known for her single Ain't No Saint, which peaked at number two on the Swedish national record chart, Sverigetopplistan. 

Stig Dagerman was a Swedish writer and journalist. His works became popular in the aftermath of the Second World War as they deal with universal problems of sexuality and social philosophy, of morality and conscience, of love, compassion, guilt, fear, loneliness, and justice. Many of Stig Dagerman's works have been translated into English.

Dawit Isaak is a Swedish-Eritrean writer, journalist, and playwright. Since 2001, he has been jailed by the Eritrean government without trial and is regarded as a traitor by the government of Eritrea. Dawit Isaak is considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, which has called for his release. Over the years, his works have earned him several prestigious awards.

Swedish author, playwright, and journalist Hjalmar Söderberg had begun his career as a civil servant, before switching to full-time writing. Known for his novels such as Doctor Glas and Martin Birck’s Youth, he also penned short story collections such as Historietter. His themes are often melancholic and cynical.

Klas Pontus Arnoldson was a Swedish politician, author, journalist, and pacifist. He is best remembered for winning the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Fredrik Bajer in 1908. He is credited with founding the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, a non-governmental organization dedicated to peace, democratization, and disarmament.

Alexandra Pascalidou is a Greek-Swedish television hostess, columnist, and author. She is best known for hosting popular events like Melodifestivalen and Eurovision Song Contest. Over the course of her career, Alexandra Pascalidou has received several prestigious awards such as the Bellman Prize, St Eriks Medal, and Integration Award. 

Lars Johan Hierta was a Swedish businessman, politician, social critic, and newspaper publisher. Best known for founding the popular Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet in 1830, Hierta is sometimes referred to as the father of the free press. Lars Johan Hierta is also remembered as an agitator for social and political reform during the 19th century.

Herbert Tingsten was a Swedish writer, newspaper publisher, and political scientist. From 1935 to 1946, he served at Stockholm University as a professor of political science. From 1946 to 1959, he served as the executive editor of Dagens Nyheter, a daily newspaper. Renowned for his intuition, Tingsten anticipated issues such as apartheid in South Africa and the rise of fascism.