Eliason Merit Award

In spirit of furthering Swedish- American relations, SACC-LA presents the Eliason Merit Award – an exclusive annual red carpet event – to individuals who have contributed to strengthening the relations between the United States and Sweden in the areas of commerce, culture, science and arts.

The award has been named in honor of the late Sven A Eliason, who through his great contributions to many Swedish- American causes exemplified the requirements for this award. Bengt S Olin the founder of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles initiated the The Eliason Merit Award in 1988. Previous recipients include Tove Lo (Artist), Steve Angello (DJ and record producer), Dolph Lundgren (Actor), Joel Kinnaman (Actor), Per Hallberg (Sound editor & three-time Academy Award winner), Pia Sundhage (Head Coach of USA’s National Soccer Team and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist) and Maud Adams (Actress).

The 2018 Eliason Merit Award statue was, once again, crafted by the fantastic Orrefors. Since 1898, Orrefors has produced art and crystal glass of finest quality. The defining characteristics of Orrefors products are timeless Scandinavian elegance, innovative design and genuine craftsmanship. SACC-LA is honored to have had Orrefors design the EMA 2018 statue for Zlatan Ibrahimović!

SACC-LA President Gudrun Giddings and EMA 2018 winner Zlatan Ibrahimović – Photo: SACC-LA

52+ Million news & social media reaches. Photo: SACC-LA

Click on the buttons below to read and see pictures more of previous years EMA recipients.

Eliason Merit Award winners throughout the years:

2024 Ludwig Göransson
2022 Fredrik Eklund
2021 No recipient due to the Covid-19 pandemic
2020 No recipient due to the Covid-19 pandemic
2019 Magnus Lygdback
2018 Zlatan Ibrahimović
2017 Linus Sandgren
2016 Anine Bing
2015 Tove “Tove Lo” Nilsson
2014 Joel Kinnaman
2013 Steve Angello
2012 Dolph Lundgren
2011 Per Hallberg, Kerstin Florian and STOPP-LA
2010 Traktor
2009 Pia Sundhage
2008 Kerstin Alm
2007 Tomas Jegeus
2006 Ann-Charlotte Hanes Harvey
2005 Kent Berg
2004 Margareta Saperston
2003 Maud Adams
2002 Luther Luedtke
2001 Wilhelm Wachtmeister
2000 Ann-Margaret
1999 Barbro S. Osher
1998 Åke Sandler
1997 Bengt S. Olin
1996 Signe Hasso
1995 Peter Hammarström
1994 Margareta Sjödin- Hellsten
1993 Roy A. Anderson
1992 Siri M. Eliason
1991 Björn Ahlström
1990 Franklin S. Forsberg
1989 Agneta Nilsson
1988 Walter G. Danielson

In the spirit of furthering Swedish-American relations, SACC-LA presents the Eliason Merit Awards to individuals who have contributed significantly toward strengthening relations between the United States and Sweden in the areas of commerce, culture, science and the arts. The awards has been named in honor of the late Sven A. Eliason, who through his great contributions to many Swedish- American causes exemplified the requirements for this awards. Bengt S. Olin, the founder of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles (SACC-LA), initiated the Eliason Merit Award in 1988.