1. Early Life
Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren (Chinese name Gāo Běnhàn 高本漢) was born in Jönköping on October 5, 1889, as one of the eight children (one of whom died in infancy) of Johannes Karlgren (1844–1905), a schoolteacher, and Gabriela Maria Hendrika (“Ella”) Hasselberg (1855–1935), from a family of clergymen, high-ranking civil servants and scholars. Johannes Karlgren was extraordinarily g…