Sara Danius

HELSINKI (AP) — Sara Danius, the first woman to lead the Swedish institution that awards the Nobel Prize in literature, has died at age 57.

Swedish media said she had breast cancer.

Danius was elected to a lifetime position on the Swedish Academy’s board in 2013 and because the body’s first female permanent secretary in 2015. She resigned the position in 2018.

The Stockholm University professor published a book last year about singer-songwriter Bob Dylan after playing a central role in the Swedish Academy’s decision to make him a Nobel laureate in 2016.

“Everything she did was characterized by a rare strength and luminosity,” read a brief obituary on the Swedish Academy’s website Saturday.

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustav said he was sad to hear of Danius’ death. The monarch, who is the academy’s patron, said they held regular meetings with “interesting conversations” during her time there.

“A strong cultural figure has left us, way too early,” Carl XVI Gustav said in a statement.