Grew up in Småland outside Vimmerby in the south of Sweden. Her first book came out in 1944, and she made a breakthrough the following year with the stories about Pippi Longstocking. Countless stories about Pippi and other characters of Astrid's imagination and excellent story telling ability were translated to at least 55 languages and told to millions of children all over the world. Many of the stories were adapted for TV and even the big screen. She moved to Stockholm early, and she died peacefully in her home after a brief illness on January 28, 2002 at the age of 94.
The father of her son Lars, Reinhold Blomberg, was married at the time of their sons birth.
Received the Hans Christian Andersen medal in 1958.
She defended childrens rights and animal welfare, lobbying an animal rights bill into law in 1998. That year the Astrid Lindgrens Childrens Hospital opened, one of the biggest children hospitals in northern Europe.
At times, Lindgren voiced political concerns. In 1976 she received a tax demand that outstripped her income, and criticized tax legislation in the fierce satire "Pomperipossa In the World Of Money". The law was changed.
Lindgren was immensely popular in her home country. Few Swedes will ever forget her restful voice reading the stories that have become an integrated part of Swedish culture and collective consciousness. A theme park, displaying several of the settings from her books, opened in 1989 in her hometown, and attracts about 300,000 visitors yearly.
Her first book was published in 1944, a story for teen-age girls called "Britt-Mari Opens Her Heart". It won second place in a literature competition sponsored by the publisher. Pippi Longstocking took first prize the next year.
It wasnt until Lindgren was bedridden with a badly twisted ankle that she decided to put the stories on paper and give them to her daughter. She sent the manuscript to a publisher, who turned it down. But by then she had rediscovered the joy of writing.
Her most popular character was Pippi Longstocking, which was an instant hit among children when she first appeared in 1945. But parents often were shocked by the unruly Pippi, who rebelled against society and happily mocked institutions like the police and charity ladies.
Lindgren wrote about what she later called her own happy childhood in stories about the Noisy Village, where children romped through green forests in summer, skated on a frozen lake in winter and went fishing for crayfish in the fall.
She was awarded dozens of Swedish and international prizes for her books, among them the Hans Christian Andersen medal in 1958, which is considered the ultimate accolade for an author of childrens books.
Lindgrens works were translated into dozens of languages, ranging from Azerbaijani to Zulu, and sold more than 130 million copies worldwide. About 40 films and television series were based on her stories.
Had a son, Lars Lasse Lindgren (born December 4 1926), from her relationship with Reinhold Blomberg. He was 30 years older than her and when she became pregnant he wanted to marry her, she refused and the boy lived with foster parents until she married Sture Lindgren in 1931.
Lived in the same apartment on Dalagatan in Stockholm from 1941 until her death.
Had a daughter, Karin Lindgren (born May 21, 1934), with Sture Lindgren.
She wrote her last piece, a short mystery story, in 1987.
She spent her last years in a modest apartment in Stockholm where she had lived all her adult life.
Her son Lars Lasse Lindgren once said about his mother: "She wasnt the kind of mother who would sit quiet on a park-bench, watching her children play. She wanted to play herself and I suspect she found it as much fun as I did!"
Wrote all first drafts of her novels and scripts in stenography.
Lindgren invented the character "Pippi Longstocking" to amuse her 7-year-old daughter Karin while she was ill in bed with a fever.
Mother of translator Karin Nyman.
You have to live your life in order to make friends with death.
You know that the Germans are insane. For example they have named about,70 schools after me.
A childhood without books – that would be no childhood. That would be like being shut out from the enchanted place where you can go and find the rarest kind of joy.
What should a good children’s book be like? If you ask me, I can tell you after thinking long and hard: It must be good.
