The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Literature Prize, said yesterday it had named a literature professor as its new permanent secretary, after a #MeToo scandal in late 2017 threw the institution into turmoil.

Mats Malm is a professor of literary theory at the University of Gothenburg.

“I am very happy to be given this trust and look forward to the honourable commission as permanent secretary,” he said. Malm, 54, only joined the Academy four months ago.

He takes over from Anders Olsson, who has been serving as head of the Academy since June 2018 after the previous secretary, Sara Danius, was forced to step down amid a scandal sparked by Frenchman Jean-Claude Arnault, an influential figure on Stockholm’s cultural scene.

Arnault, who is married to a then-member of the Academy who later resigned, was accused and later convicted of rape.