Åke Björnsson Hodell was a Swedish sound poet and text-sound composer who was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1919. He achieved professional recognition in the 1960s after developing his first text-sound compositions and is famous for his pacifist works, including “General Bussig” (1963) and “Mr. Smith in Rhodesia” (1969). Hodell trained as a fighter pilot but became a dedicated antimilitarist following a 1941 crash that required years of hospitalization. In 1953, he published his first book, Flyende pilot, and subsequently experimented with a style he termed “electronisms”. His work “Mr. Smith in Rhodesia” (1969) was banned from Swedish radio for 15 years due to its political criticism. Between 1970 and 1995, Hodell produced 16 radio plays for Sveriges Radio. His discography includes the posthumous compilation recording Verbal Brainwash and Other Works (2000), which features compositions from 1963 to 1977. Hodell died in 2000.
