In 1965 he married the literary scholar and feminist Birgitta Svanberg [sv].

[3] Svanberg graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1960, a Filosofie licentiat [sv] in 1965 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Stockholm in 1973.

He was a Lecturer between 1974 and 1993, a Docent between 1981 and 1986, Prefekt (akademisk titel) [sv] between 1982-1989 and Professor between 1982-1983 and 1989.

[3] He was a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters from 1995.

[4] In 1990, Jan Svanberg received the Samfundet S:t Erik plaque at the same time as Göran Dahlbäck [sv].