Carlson, Pippi Longstocking, Mio... This writer became the literary mother of heroes who are loved by children and adults all over the world. Astrid Lindgren also had two real, living children - a son and a daughter. In life she was as talented a mother as she was a storyteller in literature.

Astrid Anna Emilia Eriksson was born in November 1907 in Sweden, on the Nes farm. The childhood of the future storyteller was full of closeness to nature, which contributed to the spiritual openness and development of the creative beginning of the young Swede.

"In her parental home, Astrid, her brother and sisters lived in an atmosphere of love and harmony.

Astrid's parents met at the market when her mother was 7 and her father 13 years old. Children's friendship grew into sympathy, and later into love. Samuel August and Hannah had four children: the first-born son Gunnar and three daughters, the eldest of whom was Astrid. The children helped their parents with housework, and in their free time rushed around the outskirts of the farm in search of adventure. As Astrid later recalled, adults did not hesitate to show warm feelings towards each other and children, which was rare in peasant families.

On the farm, children were often told folk tales and legends. And the girl first heard the “book” fairy tale at a friend’s house. Her mother read it to her children in the kitchen. The girl liked it so much that, immersed in Magic world, it took her a long time to return to reality.

“Soon Lindgren learned to read and write, and reading became her favorite pastime forever.

And already in the elementary grades of school, the future writer demonstrated literary abilities.
After graduating from school, Astrid got a job as a junior reporter at a local publication. Soon she began to live separately from her parents, fell in love with jazz, she liked modern dance, she even got her hair short. At the same time, she had her first romance, a very tragic one. Her lover, editor of Vimmerby magazine Reinhold Blumberg, was 30 years older than the girl and married, although he was in the process of divorce. Enterprising and influential man in 1925 he fell in love with a seventeen-year-old trainee and began to beautifully court her. Astrid had only read about this in books. But she herself was rather amazed by such an extraordinary interest in her “soul and body,” as Reinhold wrote to her, rather than in love. There was something unknown, dangerous and all the more attractive about this relationship, as Astrid Lindgren said in 1993:

“Girls are such fools. No one had seriously fallen in love with me until then, he was the first. And of course, it seemed fascinating to me.”

An 18-year-old journalist became pregnant. And if everyone knew that Bloomberg had cheated on his wife, his bank account would be empty. Therefore, pregnant Astrid left for Denmark. In the country neighboring Sweden at that time, it was allowed to keep the name of the biological father a secret, so the young woman gave birth to a boy, Lars, in Copenhagen. Shortly before giving birth, Astrid met lawyer Eva Anden, from whom she received several practical advice. She also introduced her to the family of Marie Stevens, a smart and caring woman who, together with her teenage son Karl, helped Swedish mothers before and after childbirth.

" Astrid came to the Stevens family with her newborn son and stayed with him there until Christmas 1926. And then she was forced to leave in order to work, leaving her son in the care of a foster family.

The scene of departure was well remembered by the adoptive mother. Never before had Marie Stevens met a woman who, having given birth in such circumstances, was so happy about her child. Many years later, in 1950, when the boy had grown up and he himself had already had a son, the old adoptive mother from Copenhagen sent Astrid a letter, where, among other things, she wrote: “You loved your baby from the first moment.”
In January 1927, Astrid continued to study at the Bar-lok school in Stockholm, where they taught typing, accounting, bookkeeping, shorthand and business correspondence. After finishing it, she went to work. In photographs from those years, Astrid Erickson is most often sad and unhappy. She missed her son very much. She tried to visit her boy whenever possible:

“I was paid 150 crowns a month. You won’t get fat from that. And you can’t really go to Copenhagen, and most of all I wanted to go there. But sometimes, with the help of savings, loans and mortgages, I managed to scrape together money for a ticket.”

Twenty-four or twenty-five hours of communication, first every second, and then every third to fifth month for three years - that's all Astrid could afford. In those years, she could not be a real mother for Lasse, but thanks to rare trips to Copenhagen, the boy developed the image of a “mother” - a process that Aunt Stevens and Karl tried to stimulate. Lars was raised by his adoptive parents, the Stevensons, until he was 5 years old.

Perhaps the children's books of the famous storyteller Lindgren would not have been so poignant if young Astrid Erickson had not experienced separation from her newborn son. The writer hid these details for a long time for the sake of her first-born Lars, and only now they are published full biography Astrid Lindgren, shedding light on the events of 90 years ago.
In Stockholm, Astrid met Nils Sture Lindgren, director of the Royal Automobile Club. In 1928, he took her as secretary. And two years later he proposed to Astrid:

“He admitted that he fell in love with me at first sight and did not take his eyes off me all these two years,” the writer later recalled. “I told him everything about myself and, of course, about my son. He didn’t hesitate for a second: “I love you, which means I love everything that is part of your life.” Lars will be our son, take him to Stockholm."

After the wedding in 1931, Lindgren took her son, and 3 years later gave birth to a daughter, Karin. Nils adopted Lars and gave him his last name. The couple lived in happy marriage 21 years old.
Astrid Lindgren was a very unusual, as they would say now, non-standard mother: while other ladies were having decorous conversations, sitting on benches and watching children playing, she took part in the entertainment of her kids and even climbed trees with them.

"The children were always proud of their hooligan mother, who gladly took part in all the games. And one day, in front of their eyes, she jumped onto a tram at full speed (for which she was fined by the conductor).

Astrid's daughter, Karin, in an interview, when asked about her mother, said:

“Astrid loved children very much, loved being with children. And we, her own children, felt very good about this, she really loved working with us!.. On the other hand, she made certain demands on us. But they were not rigid, and it was not difficult for us to comply with them. Astrid was not a strict mother!..”

The happy and calm childhood of the son and daughter of the famous storyteller allowed them to grow into successful and harmonious people. Lars was very technically capable and became a good engineer. He died before his mother, and Astrid grieved the loss of her son.
Karin, having matured, became a translator. According to the writer's will, she must monitor the publications and translations of her fairy tales. The Saltkrokan family society includes Karin herself, her husband, son, daughter and granddaughter. They deal, among other things, with the issue of brands. Karin is a kind of guarantor of the preservation of Astrid Lindgren's legacy.

Perhaps the children's books of the famous storyteller Lindgren would not have been so poignant if young Astrid Erickson had not experienced separation from her newborn son, who was born out of wedlock. The writer hid these details for a long time for the sake of her first-born Lars, and only now a full biography of Astrid Lindgren has been published, shedding light on the events of 90 years ago.

Astrid Erickson, early 1920s. (Photo: Private archive / Saltkrå kan)

In Sweden in the 1920s, journalists did not have to receive higher education. Training took place in the editorial offices themselves: it was generally accepted that a person was either born for this work or not.

The fact that Astrid Erikson got a job at Vimmerby Publishing at the age of 15 was due to the editor-in-chief and owner of the newspaper, Reinhold Blumberg. A few years earlier, he had the opportunity to become convinced of the girl’s outstanding literary abilities. Astrid attended school with Bloomberg's children, and one day, in August or September 1921, teacher Tengström showed Bloomberg an extraordinary essay written by thirteen-year-old Astrid Erikson.

Editor Bloomberg has not forgotten either the essay or the author. More than a year later, in the summer of 1923, having passed the exam at a real school, Astrid Erikson became an intern at Vimmerby Tidning. A monthly salary of sixty crowns was then the usual payment for interns in Sweden - for this money they not only wrote obituaries, small notes and reviews, but also sat on the phone, kept journals, read proofs and ran into the city on errands.

Astrid's first man

A seemingly promising career as a journalist ended abruptly in August 1926, when it became impossible to hide the fact that the Vimmerby Tidning trainee was pregnant. The father of the child was neither a former classmate, nor a young peasant, nor a business traveler, oh no. The father was the owner and editor-in-chief of Vimmerby Publishing, nearly fifty-year-old Reinhold Blumberg, married for the second time after the death of his first wife in 1919, leaving him with seven children.

Reinhold Blumberg (1877–1947), owner and editor of Vimmerby Publishing from 1913 to 1939 and father of Astrid Lindgren's first child. (Photo: Private archive)

And in 1925, this enterprising and influential man fell in love with a seventeen-year-old trainee and began to beautifully court her. Astrid had only read about this in books. The girl did not reject the admirer and entered into a love affair with him, which, for obvious reasons, was kept secret and lasted more than six months, until Astrid’s pregnancy in March 1926.

She herself was more likely to be amazed by such an extraordinary interest in her “soul and body,” as Reinhold wrote to her, than to be in love. But there was something unknown, dangerous and therefore attractive in this relationship, Astrid Lindgren said in 1993: “Girls are such fools. No one had seriously fallen in love with me until then, he was the first. And of course, it seemed fascinating to me.”

It also broke every taboo. Not only because of Astrid Erickson's complete inexperience and naivety in the sexual field, but also because Reinhold Blumberg was a married man in the process. In addition, the editor-in-chief of Vimmerby Tidning and the respected tenants, the Eriksons, Astrid's parents, were not just acquaintances, but also worked together on several occasions.

“I wanted a child, but not his father.”

The exact circumstances of Astrid's affair with her boss, who at that time no longer lived with his wife Olivia Bloomberg, are unknown. During Astrid Lindgren's lifetime, the general public never learned the name of the child's father. Astrid wanted to keep the secret as long as possible. First of all, for Lasse's sake. “I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t want. I wanted a child, but not his father.”

Astrid Lindgren's own complete and accurate interpretation of the events of 1926 was never published, but was thoroughly retold by her biographer Margareta Strömstedt in the book "The Great Storyteller. The Life of Astrid Lindgren", published in 1977 on the occasion of the writer's seventieth birthday. Before that, for thirty years, it seemed as if the girl had come to Stockholm to study, where a few years later she met Sture Lindgren, whom she married, after which she gave birth to two children, Lasse and Karin.

However, everything was not so simple. Astrid was much more confused about her relationship with Reinhold than she later admitted. Bloomberg, for his part, was still in love and in 1927 paid for their joint trip to see the baby. Only in March 1928, Astrid finally made up her mind and abandoned her relationship with Lasse’s father, announcing that their paths would now diverge forever.

Storgatan 30, Vimmerby. This is where Bloomberg's editor-in-chief lives with his family and where his newspaper's editorial office was located in the 1920s. Around the corner is a printing house where a newspaper is printed every Wednesday and Saturday. (Photo: Regional Museum East Gotland)

From the very beginning of the relationship, Reinhold wanted to completely own Astrid, which she categorically did not like. After she moved to Stockholm in September 1926, he reproached her for studying to become a secretary without consulting him. Astrid’s deliberately superficial letters disappointed the demanding romantic from Vimmerby, who had drawn up a plan for their future together (he was only hampered by a protracted divorce) and did not tolerate interruptions: “You write so little about yourself. Isn’t it clear that I want to know much, much more about you? ".

How could you?

What Astrid found in Reinhold, besides the fact that he was her first man and the father of her unborn child, not only her mother Hannah, but also Lindgren herself asked herself in her old age. “Neither to myself nor to Hannah could I answer the question “how could you?” But when could these young, inexperienced, naive fools answer it? How is Sigurd in this story about the frivolous Lena? I read about her in my early youth Not a beauty at all, the writer assured, she “was still in demand on the market of desire.” I read and thought with some envy: “Oh, if only I could be like her!” Well, I succeeded, though. I didn’t foresee it."

Behind this quote hid not only the awareness of his actions and a feeling of guilt, but also the accumulated resentment towards a more experienced man, who perfectly understood the risk that he himself and especially his young lover were exposed to without taking advantage of it. She later angrily reprimanded the elderly Reinhold Blumberg in a letter dated February 22, 1943: “I had not the slightest idea about contraception, and therefore could not understand the extent of your monstrous irresponsibility towards me.”

The explanation for such ignorance is to be found in the puritanism that still dominated government policy in the 1920s. By law, Sweden prohibited any advertising or public mention of contraceptives, which anyone could buy provided they had information about their existence. That's why only a few Swedish women - especially in the provinces - understood how to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

Eighteen-year-old Astrid Eriksson in the fall of 1926 (Photo: Private archive / Saltkrå kan)

Astrid Lindgren paid a high price for her affair with Bloomberg. She lost her job and the prospect of later finding a position in a larger newspaper than Vimmerby Publishing. And in the fall of 1926, when the pregnancy became difficult to hide, Astrid had to leave her home and city and go to Stockholm. Lindgren described parting with Vimmerby as a joyful escape: “Being the target of gossip is like sitting in a pit with snakes, and I decided to leave this pit as soon as possible. And no matter what anyone thinks, from home I’m just like in the good old days , they didn’t drive me away. Not at all! I kicked myself out.”

Where to secretly give birth to an unmarried woman

Astrid enrolled in shorthand and typing courses and one day accidentally read about a certain female lawyer in the capital helping unmarried pregnant women in difficult circumstances. Astrid found Eva Anden and told not only about her own sad situation, but also about her secret engagement to Reinhold and about divorce proceedings, which increasingly influenced the situation with childbirth (Bloomberg’s wife tried her best to collect evidence of her husband’s infidelity and was already very successful in this).

The lawyer advised the girl to go to Copenhagen and give birth in the Royal Hospital - the only one in Scandinavia where the names of the child's parents could be kept secret and from where information was not sent to the Population Registration Department or others government bodies. Eva Anden also recommended that Astrid leave the child in the Danish capital with a foster mother until she and Reinhold could take him to Sweden. The lawyer contacted Marie Stevens, a smart and caring woman who, along with her teenage son Karl, helped Swedish mothers before and after childbirth.

Eva Andén (1886–1970) – Sweden's first female lawyer. In 1915 she founded her own law firm. (Photo: Eric Holman/TT)

It was Karl who took Astrid to the Royal Hospital by taxi when the contractions began. Three years later, on January 10, 1930, the same calm, reliable Karl took three-year-old Lasse by train to Stockholm, to “Mama Lasse,” as he and Fru Stevens consistently and unobtrusively called Astrid at home.

After Lars was born

The boy was born on December 4 at ten o'clock in the morning, and a few days after the birth, Astrid, with little Lars Blumberg in her arms, returned to Fr. Stevens and did not part with him until December 23. On the eve of 1926, Astrid said goodbye to her child, Aunt Stevens and Karl. Her path lay home to Näs, and then north to Stockholm.

The adoptive mother remembered this scene well. Never before had Marie Stevens met a woman who, having given birth in such circumstances, was so happy about her child. Many years later, in 1950, when the boy had grown up and he himself had already had a son, the old adoptive mother from Copenhagen sent Astrid a letter, where, among other things, she wrote: “You loved your baby from the first moment.”

Villa Stevns is 5–6 km from the center of Copenhagen. There, on the second floor, Lasse spent the first three years of his life. (Photo: Private archive)

In January 1927, Astrid continued to study at the Bar-lok school, where they taught typing, accounting, bookkeeping, shorthand and business correspondence. In photographs from those years, Astrid Erickson is most often sad and unhappy. The piercing happiness and euphoria that came after a successful birth gave way to despondency, pain and regret.

She had a room in the boarding house, a steel bed, clothes and, as a rule, enough food, which she owed in no small part to parcels from home: about once every month and a half a basket full of supplies from Hannah's pantry arrived. For this, the eldest daughter immediately thanked her in letters: “What a luxury - to cut yourself a decent piece of bread, spread it with first-class Wimmerby butter and put a piece of mother’s cheese on top, and then eat it all. I experience this pleasure every morning, while there is still something in the basket - then it remains."

Melancholy, pessimism and occasional thoughts of suicide made themselves felt most strongly when long on Sundays Astrid was left alone in the big city. Incessant thoughts about Lassa drove her out into the street early in the morning, and everything that on other days was repressed and drowned in numerous worries surfaced from the subconscious.

And on weekdays, a disappointed twenty-year-old mother without a child became an energetic, sociable Miss Erikson, who knew how to get along with everyone around her. She typed touch-type, sliding her fingers across the keyboard without looking, took good shorthand and was not afraid of correspondence in English and German. All these skills later came in handy for Astrid Lindgren, a writer, editor, and, for family and friends, a diligent correspondent.

Work in Stockholm and trips to Copenhagen to visit my son

At her first job, where Astrid entered in 1927, she was supposed to pick up the phone and say: “Radio Department of the Swedish Book Trade Centre!” - listen and apologize. She had to accept complaints from dissatisfied customers who were unable to tune in their new radio - the latest technology.

During the interview, the head of the office made it clear that after the departure of the previous employee, he no longer needed nineteen-year-olds, but Astrid Erickson did what she always knew how to do perfectly: she sold herself. She turned on charm, humor, energy and convinced the employer that she could be relied upon, even though she was only nineteen.

“I was paid 150 crowns a month. You won’t get fat from that. And you can’t really go to Copenhagen, and most of all I wanted to go there. But sometimes, with the help of savings, loans and mortgages, I managed to scrape together money for a ticket.”

Astrid Eriksson's old passport, with numerous blue and red stamps, shows that Lars Blumberg's mother traveled from Stockholm to Copenhagen and back twelve to fifteen times over three years. She often took the cheapest overnight train, leaving on Friday; a round-trip ticket cost 50 crowns, and you had to sit all night. In the morning she arrived at Copenhagen Central Station, jumped on the tram and entered the gate of Villa Stevns before noon. There was only a day left for almost continuous communication with Lasse: in order to go to work in Stockholm on Monday morning, Astrid had to leave Copenhagen early on Sunday evening.

Twenty-four or twenty-five hours of communication, first every second, and then every third to fifth month for three years - it seems like not much, but in the ocean of melancholy these single trips were precious drops. In those years, Astrid could not be a real mother for Lasse, but thanks to trips to Copenhagen, the boy developed the image of a “mother” - a process that Aunt Stevens and Karl tried to stimulate. Out of their kindness, they described in detail Lasse's health condition, his speech and motor development, and daily active games.

To be continued.

Biography

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren is a Swedish writer, author of a number of world-famous books for children, including “The Kid and Carlson Who Lives on the Roof” and the tetralogy about Pippi Longstocking. In Russian, her books became known and very popular thanks to the translation by Lilianna Lungina.

early years

Astrid Lindgren was born on November 14, 1907 in southern Sweden, on the farm of Näs near Vimmerby in Kalmar County, into a peasant family. Her parents - father Samuel August Eriksson and mother Hanna Jonsson - met at the market when he was 13 and she was 7 years old. In 1905, when Hannah turned 18, they got married. Astrid became their second child. She had an older brother, Gunnar (July 27, 1906 – May 27, 1974) and two younger sisters, Hanna Ingrid Stina (March 1, 1911 – December 27, 2002) and Ingegerd Britta Salome (March 15, 1916 – September 21, 1997).

As Lindgren herself pointed out in the collection of autobiographical essays “My Fictions” (Mina påhitt, 1971), she grew up in the age of “the horse and the convertible.” The main means of transportation for the family was a horse-drawn carriage, the pace of life was slower, entertainment was simpler, and relationships with surrounding nature much tighter than today. This environment contributed to the writer’s love of nature.

The writer herself always called her childhood happy (there were many games and adventures in it, interspersed with work on the farm and in its environs) and pointed out that it served as a source of inspiration for her work. Astrid's parents not only felt deep affection for each other and for their children, but also did not hesitate to show it, which was rare at that time. The writer spoke with great sympathy and tenderness about the special relationships in the family in her only book not addressed to children, “Samuel August from Sevedstorp and Hannah from Hult” (1973). Hannah died in 1961, Samuel in 1969.

The beginning of creative activity

As a child, Astrid was surrounded by folklore, and many jokes, fairy tales, stories that she heard from her father or from friends later formed the basis of her own works. Her love for books and reading, as she later admitted, arose in the kitchen of Christine, whose daughter, Edith, she was friends with. It was Edith who introduced Astrid to the amazing, exciting world that one could get into by reading fairy tales. The impressionable Astrid was shocked by this discovery, and later she herself mastered the magic of the word.

Her abilities became obvious already in primary school, where Astrid was called “Wimmerbün’s Selma Lagerlöf,” which, in her own opinion, she did not deserve.

Years of creativity

After her marriage in 1931, Astrid Lindgren decided to become a housewife in order to devote herself entirely to caring for children. During the Second World War, she kept a diary for 6 years, which was published by the Salikon publishing house in connection with the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. In 1941, the Lindgrens moved to an apartment overlooking Stockholm's Vasa Park, where the writer lived until her death. Occasionally taking on secretarial work, she composed travel descriptions and rather banal fairy tales for family magazines and Christmas calendars, thereby gradually honing her literary skills.

According to Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking (1945) was born primarily thanks to her daughter Karin. In 1941, Karin fell ill with pneumonia, and every evening Astrid told her all sorts of stories before bed. One day a girl ordered a story about Pippi Longstocking - she made up this name on the spot. So Astrid Lindgren began to write a story about a girl who does not obey any conditions. Since Astrid was then advocating a new and hotly debated idea of ​​upbringing based on child psychology, challenging conventions seemed like an interesting thought experiment to her. If we consider the image of Pippi in a generalized sense, it is based on innovative ideas in the field of child education and child psychology that appeared in the 1930s and 40s. Lindgren followed and participated in the controversy, advocating for education that respects children's thoughts and feelings. The new approach to children also affected her creative style, as a result of which she became an author who consistently spoke from the point of view of a child.

After the first story about Pippi, which Karin loved, Astrid Lindgren, over the next years, told more and more evening fairy tales about this red-haired girl. On Karinea's tenth birthday, Astrid Lindgren made a shorthand recording of several stories, from which she then compiled a book of her own making for her daughter (with illustrations by the author). This original manuscript of Pippi was less elaborate stylistically and more radical in its ideas. The writer sent one copy of the manuscript to the largest Stockholm publishing house, Bonnier. After some deliberation, the manuscript was rejected. Astrid Lindgren was not discouraged by the refusal; she already realized that composing for children was her calling. In 1944 she took part in a competition for best book for girls, announced by the relatively new and little-known publishing house Raben and Sjögren. Lindgren received second prize for the story “Britt-Marie pours out her soul” (1944) and a publishing contract for it.

In 1945, Astrid Lindgren was offered the position of editor of children's literature at the publishing house Raben and Sjögren. She accepted the offer and worked in one place until 1970, when she officially retired. All her books were published by the same publishing house. Despite being extremely busy and combining editorial work with household responsibilities and writing, Astrid turned out to be a prolific writer: if you count picture books, a total of about eighty works came from her pen. The work was especially productive in the 40s and 50s. In the years 1944-1950 alone, Astrid Lindgren composed a trilogy about Pippi Longstocking, two stories about children from Bullerby, three books for girls, a detective story, two collections of fairy tales, a collection of songs, four plays and two picture books. As this list shows, Astrid Lindgren was an extraordinarily versatile author, willing to experiment in a variety of genres.

In 1946, she published her first story about the detective Kalle Blumkvist (“Kalle Blumkvist Plays”), thanks to which she won the first prize at literary competition(Astrid Lindgren did not participate in competitions anymore). In 1951, there was a sequel, “Kalle Blumkvist Takes Risks” (in Russian, both stories were published in 1959 under the title “The Adventures of Kalle Blumkvist”), and in 1953, the final part of the trilogy, “Kalle Blumkvist and Rasmus” (was translated into Russian in 1986). With Kalle Blumkvist, the writer wanted to replace readers with cheap thrillers that glorified violence.

In 1954, Astrid Lindgren composed the first of her three fairy tales - “Mio, my Mio!” (trans. 1965). This emotional, dramatic book combines the techniques of a heroic tale and fairy tale, and it tells the story of Boo Vilhelm Ohlsson, the unloved and neglected son of his adoptive parents. Astrid Lindgren has repeatedly resorted to fairy tales and fairy tales, touching on the fate of lonely and abandoned children (this was the case before “Mio, my Mio!”). Bringing comfort to children, helping them overcome difficult situations - this task not least motivated the writer’s work.

In the next trilogy - “The Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof” (1955; trans. 1957), “Carlson, who lives on the roof, has arrived again” (1962; trans. 1965) and “Carlson, who lives on the roof, plays pranks again" (1968; trans. 1973) - the fantasy hero of a non-evil sort acts again. This “moderately well-fed”, infantile, greedy, boastful, pouting, self-pitying, self-centered, although not without charm, little man lives on the roof of the apartment building where the Kid lives. As a half-adult friend of the Kid from a half-fairytale reality, he is a much less wonderful image of childhood than the unpredictable and carefree Pippi. The Kid is the youngest of three children in the most ordinary family of Stockholm bourgeois, and Carlson enters his life in a very specific way - through the window, and does this every time the Kid feels left out, left out or humiliated, in other words, when the boy feels sorry for himself . In such cases, his compensatory alter ego appears - in all respects, “the best in the world” Carlson, who makes the Kid forget about his troubles. It is important to note that Carlson, despite his “shortcomings,” under certain conditions is capable of such actions that can serve as an example to follow - to scare and drive away robbers from the Kid’s apartment, or in a gentle way to teach a lesson to forgetful parents (the case of the little girl from attic, which was left alone).

Film adaptations and theatrical productions

In 1969, Stockholm's famed Royal Drama Theater staged Carlson on the Roof, which was unusual for the time. Since then, dramatizations based on Astrid Lindgren's books have been constantly performed in both large and small theaters in Sweden, Scandinavia, Europe and the United States of America. A year before the production in Stockholm, the play about Carlson was shown on the stage of the Moscow Satire Theater, where it is still performed (this hero is extremely popular in Russia). If on a global scale the work of Astrid Lindgren attracted attention primarily thanks to theater performances, then in Sweden the writer’s fame was greatly promoted by films and television series based on her works. The stories about Kalle Blumkvist were the first to be filmed - the film premiered on Christmas Day 1947. Two years later, the first of four films about Pippi Longstocking appeared. Between the 50s and 80s, famous Swedish director Olle Hellboom created a total of 17 films based on Astrid Lindgren's books. Hellboom's visual interpretations, with their inexpressible beauty and sensitivity to the written word, have become classics of Swedish children's cinema.

Personal life

At the age of 18, Astrid became pregnant by the editor of the Wimerby magazine, Axel Gustaf Reinhold Blumberg (May 29, 1877 - August 26, 1947). However, Bloomberg was then going through a difficult period - he was divorcing his former wife Olivia Frolund, and although they no longer lived together, they were formally married, which is why Astrid's pregnancy could give rise to a disreputable reputation for adultery around Bloomberg, and therefore they did not could get married. Because of this, Astrid, in order to avoid rumors, was forced to leave Vimmerby, and in December 1926 she gave birth in Copenhagen (in Denmark, single mothers were then allowed to give birth without revealing the name of the biological father) son Lars (December 4, 1926 - July 22, 1986 ), and since there was not enough money, Astrid had to leave her beloved son there in Denmark in the family of adoptive parents named Stevens. Leaving her position as a junior reporter, she went to Stockholm. There she completed secretarial courses and in 1931 found a job in this specialty. Before this, in 1928, she received a job as a secretary at the Royal Automobile Club, where she met Nils Sture Lindgren (3 November 1898 - 15 June 1952). They married in April 1931, and after that Astrid was able to take Lars home (although Nils adopted him and Lars also began to bear the surname Lindgren after that, Reinhold Blumberg recognized him, and after his death Lars received his share of the inheritance). Married to Lindgren, Astrid had a daughter, Karin Niemann, on May 21, 1934.

Astrid's great-niece on her brother Gunar's side is the famous Swedish crime writer Karin Alvtegen.

Social activity

Over the years literary activity Astrid Lindgren earned more than one million crowns by selling the rights to publish her books and their film adaptations, to release audio and video cassettes, and later also CDs with recordings of her songs or literary works in her own performance, but did not change her lifestyle at all. Since the 1940s, she lived in the same - rather modest - Stockholm apartment and preferred not to accumulate wealth, but to give money to others.

Only once, in 1976, when the tax collected by the state amounted to 102% of her profits, Astrid Lingren protested. On March 10 of the same year, she went on the offensive, sending a letter to the Stockholm newspaper Expressen open letter, in which she told a fairy tale about a certain Pomperipossa from Monismania. In this fairy tale for adults, Astrid Lindgren took the position of a layman or a naive child (as Hans Christian Andersen did before her in “The King’s New Clothes”) and, using it, tried to expose the vices of society and general pretense. In the year when parliamentary elections were approaching, this fairy tale became an almost naked, crushing attack on the bureaucratic, complacent and self-interested apparatus of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, which had been in power for 40 years in a row. Finance Minister Gunnar Strang scornfully said in a parliamentary debate: “She can tell stories, but she can’t count,” but was later forced to admit that he was wrong. Astrid Lindgren, who turned out to be right all along, said that she and Strang should switch jobs with each other: “Strang can tell stories, but he can’t count.” This event led to a large protest, during which the Social Democrats were harshly criticized, both for the tax system and for disrespectful attitude to Lindgren. Contrary to popular belief, this story did not cause the electoral defeat of the Social Democrats. In the fall of 1976, they received 42.75% of the vote and 152 of 349 seats in parliament, which was only 2.5% worse than the result of the previous elections in 1973. However, this was enough for an opposition coalition to be formed in the government, led by Thorbjörn Feldin.

The writer herself was a member of the Social Democratic Party throughout her adult life - and remained in its ranks after 1976. And she objected primarily to the distance from the ideals that Lindgren remembered from her youth. When she was once asked what path she would have chosen for herself if she had not become a famous writer, she answered without hesitation that she would like to take part in the social democratic movement of the initial period. The values ​​and ideals of this movement played - together with humanism - a fundamental role in the character of Astrid Lindgren. Her inherent desire for equality and caring attitude towards people helped the writer overcome the barriers erected by her high position in society. She treated everyone with the same warmth and respect, be it the Swedish Prime Minister, the head of a foreign state, or one of her child readers. In other words, Astrid Lindgren lived according to her convictions, which is why she became the subject of admiration and respect, both in Sweden and abroad.

Lindgren's open letter with the tale of Pomperipossa had such a great impact because by 1976 she was no longer just a famous writer - she was highly respected throughout Sweden. She became an important person, a person known throughout the country, thanks to numerous appearances on radio and television. Thousands of Swedish children grew up listening to Astrid Lindgren's original books on the radio. Her voice, her face, her opinions, her sense of humor have been familiar to most Swedes since the 50s and 60s, when she hosted various quizzes and talk shows on radio and television. In addition, Astrid Lindgren gained attention with her speeches in defense of such a typically Swedish phenomenon as a universal love for nature and reverence for its beauty.

In the spring of 1985, when the daughter of a Småland farmer spoke publicly about the oppression of farm animals, the Prime Minister himself listened to her. Lindgren heard about animal abuse on large farms in Sweden and other industrialized countries from Kristina Forslund, a veterinarian and lecturer at Uppsala University. Seventy-eight-year-old Astrid Lindgren sent an open letter to major Stockholm newspapers. The letter contained another fairy tale - about a loving cow who protests against the mistreatment of livestock. With this tale, the writer began a campaign that lasted three years. In June 1988, an animal protection law was passed, which received the Latin name Lex Lindgren (Lindgren Law); however, its inspirer did not like it because of its vagueness and obviously low effectiveness.

As in other cases where Lindgren stood up for the well-being of children, adults or environment, the writer started from her own experience, and her protest was caused by deep emotional excitement. She understood that at the end of the 20th century it was impossible to return to small-scale cattle breeding, which Astrid witnessed in childhood and adolescence on her father’s farm and on neighboring farms. She demanded something more fundamental: respect for animals, since they are also living beings and endowed with feelings.

Astrid Lindgren's deep belief in non-violent treatment extended to both animals and children. “Not violence” was the title of her speech when she was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1978 (she received for the story “The Lionheart Brothers” (1973; trans. 1981) and for the writer’s struggle for peaceful coexistence and a decent life for all Living creatures). In this speech, Astrid Lindgren defended her pacifist beliefs and advocated raising children without violence and corporal punishment. “We all know,” Lindgren reminded, “that children who are beaten and abused will themselves beat and abuse their children, and therefore this vicious circle must be broken.”

In 1952, Astrid Sture's husband died. In 1961, her mother died, eight years later her father died, and in 1974 her brother and several bosom friends died. Astrid Lindgren has repeatedly encountered the mystery of death and thought about it a lot. While Astrid’s parents were sincere adherents of Lutheranism and believed in life after death, the writer herself called herself an agnostic. Astrid herself died on January 28, 2002. She was 94 years old.

Awards

In 1958, Astrid Lindgren was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, which is called Nobel Prize in children's literature. In addition to awards given specifically to children's writers, Lindgren has also received a number of awards for “adult” authors, in particular, the Karen Blixen Medal established by the Danish Academy, the Russian Leo Tolstoy Medal, the Chilean Gabriela Mistral Prize and the Swedish Selma Lagerlöf Prize. In 1969, the writer received the Swedish State Prize for Literature. Her achievements in the field of charity were recognized by the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1978 and the Albert Schweitzer Medal in 1989 (awarded by the American organization Animal Welfare Institute).

Cinema and animation

Almost all of Astrid Lindgren's books have been filmed. Several dozen films were shot in Sweden from 1970 to 1997, including the entire series about Pippi, Emil from Lönneberga and Kalle Blumkvist. Another constant producer of film adaptations was the USSR, where animated films based on the series about Carlson were shot. “Mio, my Mio” was filmed by an international project.

Film adaptations

1968 - Baby and Carlson (dir. Boris Stepantsev)
1969 - Pippi Longstocking (dir. Olle Hellboom. screenplay by Astrid Lindgren)
1970 - Carlson is back (dir. Boris Stepantsev)
1971 - The Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof (dir. Valentin Pluchek, Margarita Mikaelyan), film-play
1974 - Emil from Lönneberga (dir. Olle Hellbom)
1976 - The Adventures of Kalle the Detective (dir. Arūnas Žebryūnas)
1977 - Lionheart Brothers (dir. Olle Hellbom)
1978 - Rasmus the Tramp (dir. Maria Muat)
1979 - Are you crazy, Madiken! (dir. Goran Graffman)
1980 - Madiken from Junibakken (dir. Goran Graffman)
1981 - Rasmus the Tramp (dir. Ulle Hellboom)
1984 - Roni, the daughter of a robber (dir. Tage Danielson)
1984 - Pippi Longstocking (dir. Margarita Mikaelyan)
1985 - Tomboy Tricks (dir. Varis Brasla)
1986 - “We are all from Bullerby” (dir. Lasse Hallström)
1987 - “New Adventures of the Children from Bullerby” (dir. Lasse Hallström)
1987 - Mio, my Mio (dir. Vladimir Grammatikov)
1989 - Lively Kaisa (dir. Daniel Bergman)
1996 - Supersleuth Kalle Blomkvist risks his life (dir. Göran Karmback)
1997 - Kalle Blomkvist and Rasmus (dir. Göran Karmback)
2014 - “Ronya, the Robber’s Daughter” (TV series, directed by Goro Miyazaki).

Honors

Laureate of the International literary prize named after Janusz Korczak (1979) - for the story “The Brothers Lionheart”.
In 1991, a variety of roses created in Denmark was named after the writer: “Astrid Lindgren”.

In 2002, the Swedish government established the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize for achievements in children's literature. The prize is awarded annually prize fund is 5 million Swedish kronor.

On April 6, 2011, the Bank of Sweden announced plans to issue a new series of banknotes in 2014-2015. The obverse of the 20 Swedish krona banknote will feature a portrait of Astrid Lindgren.

We wish you good luck
In that unknown and new world,

So that you don't feel lonely,
So that the angels do not leave.

Biography

Biography of Astrid Lindgren - the story of a happy, kind, talented, hardworking woman. She was not only an amazingly talented writer, but also a kind of wonderful child psychologist. Her progressive - at that time - views on raising children were often met with hostility by conservative teachers and children's writers. They not only believed that Lindgren's stories were not instructive enough, but they were also convinced that they promoted permissiveness and disobedience. Nevertheless, Lindgren's fairy tales are still read by millions of adults and children, and Astrid Lindgren herself is popular not only in her country, but throughout the world.

Lindgren was born in a small Swedish town. After school, sixteen-year-old Astrid worked at a local newspaper, but soon a serious event occurred in her life - she became pregnant. A young unmarried girl, fearing condemnation, left for Stockholm, with virtually no money or connections. There she continued to work, and when her son was born, she was forced to give the child to a foster family, since she would not be able to feed him. It was a difficult decision for Lindgren, but her quick marriage allowed her to take a boy named Lars into her family. In the following years, she devoted herself entirely to caring for the house and children - in her marriage she had a daughter named Karen. It was Karen who inspired her mother, the future world-famous writer, to write fairy tales. Often, when Karen was sick, Lindgren would sit at her bedside and make up stories to entertain her daughter. It was Karen who came up with the heroine Pippi Longstocking, and the mother just had to tell her daughter the story, and then write a book based on it that made the writer famous. Pippi wasn't the first literary experience Lindgren - in parallel with taking care of the house, Astrid wrote notes and short fairy tales. The first book she published was the story “Britty-Marie Pours Out Her Soul,” which helped her get not only a contract, but also a position as an editor at the publishing house. The further rise in Lindgren's writing biography was completely dependent on her - in 5-6 years the hardworking woman wrote a trilogy about Pippi, several books for girls and plays, collections of fairy tales and many others. etc. A few years later, Lindgren's heroes helped the former housewife earn a huge fortune. Lindgren's books were filmed, plays were staged in theaters, translated into various languages ​​of the world, and the writer Lindgren herself became a very popular person in her country, known and loved by children and adults of any age.

Lindgren's death occurred at the age of 94. Lindgren's cause of death was natural, last years Throughout her life, Lindgren was ill and gradually faded away. Lindgren's funeral took place a month later, which is due to the peculiarities of the work of funeral services in Sweden. Lindgren's grave, according to her will, is located in her cemetery hometown Vimmerby.

Life line

November 14, 1907 Date of birth of Astrid Lindgren (Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren, née Eriksson).
1926 Moving to Stockholm.
December 1926 Birth of Lindgren's son, Lars.
1927 Work at the Royal Automobile Club, meeting Sture Lindgren.
April 1931 Wedding with Sture Lindgren.
1934 Birth of daughter Karin.
1944 Prize for the story “Britt-Marie pours out her soul.”
1945 The publication of the book "Pippi Longstocking", work as an editor of children's literature at the Raben and Sjögren publishing house.
1946 Publication of the story “Kalle Blumkvist plays.”
1947 Film adaptation of the stories about Kalla Blumkvist.
1952 Death of Astrid Lindgren's husband.
1954 Writing the story “Mio, my Mio!”
1955 Release of the book “Baby and Carlson”.
1958 Lindgren was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal.
1962 Release of the book “Carlson, who lives on the roof, has arrived again.”
1968 Release of the book “Carlson, who lives on the roof, plays pranks again.”
1969 Getting Swedish state prize on literature.
1969 Production by the Royal drama theater"Carlson, who lives on the roof."
1978 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for the story “The Brothers Lionheart”, award of the Albert Schweitzer Medal.
1984 Soviet film adaptation of the book "Pippi Longstocking".
1987 Release of the film “Mio, my Mio!”, filmed by the USSR jointly with Norway and Sweden.
January 28, 2002 Date of death of Astrid Lindgren.
March 8, 2002 Funeral of Astrid Lindgren.

Memorable places

1. Vimmerby, Sweden, where Lindgren was born.
2. Astrid Lindgren's house in Stockholm.
3. St. Nicholas Cathedral in Stockholm, where farewell to Astrid Lindgren took place.
4. Amusement park "Astrid Lindgren's World", located in Vimmerby.
5. Monument to Astrid Lindgren in Stockholm near the Lindgren Museum.
6. Astrid Lindgren's Junibacken Museum in Stockholm.
7. Cemetery of the city of Vimmerby, where Lindgren is buried.

Episodes of life

Once Astrid Lindgren wrote a letter to USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev with the words: “I’m afraid of war, and you?” Gorbachev responded to the world-famous children's writer: “Me too.”

Astrid Lindgren has always taken care of children. Her books were often instructive, and not so much for children as for their parents. The writer also founded a children's hospital near Stockholm. In 1978, when she received the Peace Prize, she gave a speech entitled “Not Violence.” In it, she told a story about a boy whom his mother wanted to punish and sent for the rods. The boy did not find the rod, but brought a stone to his mother, thinking that if his mother wanted to hurt him, then a stone would be suitable for this. Mom burst into tears and put the stone on the shelf. Lindgren concluded her speech with the words: “It would be nice for all of us to put a small pebble on the kitchen shelf as a reminder to our children and ourselves - no violence!”

Lindgren was not a politician, but had influence on political life her country, as she was a very respected person in Sweden. For example, her fairy tale about the cow contributed to the animal protection law, which even received the name “Lindgren’s Law.”

In the last years of her life, Lindgren was ill, she became blind and almost lost her sight, so she rarely went out anywhere and almost never gave interviews. Nevertheless, the writer tried to stay informed about what was happening in the world, and also annually personally presented the literature prize named in her honor.

Covenant

“Work has been my greatest pleasure all my life. In the evenings I thought with joy that tomorrow morning would come and I would be able to write again.”

“Fear a quiet life!”

TV show about Astrid Lindgren

Condolences

“In everything she did, she combined common sense with directness and warmth, and in this she was unique.”
Suzanne Eman-Sunden, co-editor of the book about Astrid Lindgren

“The work of your famous compatriot is not only the property of Swedish literature. Several generations of children from many countries grew up on her surprisingly bright and witty fairy tales. They are known and loved in Russia. The best memory of Astrid Lindgren - a wonderful writer and a truly great storyteller - will be her books, which teach us to rejoice and fantasize, to appreciate kindness and friendship.”
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation

“Astrid Lindgren and her work meant a lot to all of us, children and adults. Her works delighted readers not only in Sweden, but throughout the world, awakening in them the best feelings. The setting and characters of her fairy tales were so different from daily life that it was often impossible to predict what she would talk about. For my family and me, meetings with Astrid Lindgren, as well as with her fairy tales, were moments of celebration. We will all miss Astrid Lindgren, but we are glad that she lives on in Pippi Longstocking, Madiken, Mio, the Lionheart brothers and her other heroes. We want to thank Astrid Lindgren for her extensive and invaluable work throughout her life."
Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden

Swedish children's writer Astrid Lindgren (née Anna Emilia Eriksson) was born on November 14, 1907 in southern Sweden, in the small town of Vimmerby in the province of Småland, into a farmer's family.

After finishing high school, Astrid took up journalism and worked for the local newspaper Wimmerby Tidningen. She then moved to Stockholm and trained as a stenographer.

In December 1926, Astrid's son Lars was born. Due to lack of livelihood and lack of work, the young mother had to give her son to a foster family in Denmark.

In 1927, she got a job as a secretary in the office of Torsten Lindfors.

In 1928, Astrid received a job as secretary at the Royal Automobile Club.

In April 1931, she married her boss Sture Lindgren and took her husband's surname.

After marriage, Astrid Lindgren was able to take her son, whom her husband adopted. She devoted herself entirely to caring for Lars, and then for her daughter Karin, born in 1934. In fits and starts, she took on secretarial work and composed fairy tales for family magazines and Christmas calendars.

In 1944, Lindgren took part in a competition for the best book for girls, announced by the publishing house Raben and Sjögren, and received second prize for the story “Britt-Marie Pours Out Her Soul” and a publishing contract for its publication.

Astrid Lindgren jokingly recalled that one of the reasons that prompted her to write was the cold Stockholm winters and the illness of her little daughter Karin, who always asked her mother to tell her about something. It was then that mother and daughter came up with the idea of ​​a mischievous girl with red pigtails, Pippi Longstocking. Stories about Pippi were later included in a book that Lindgren gave to her daughter on her birthday, and in 1945 the first book about Pippi was published by Raben and Sjögren.

1940‑1950s - heyday creative activity Lindgren. She wrote a trilogy about Pippi Longstocking (1945-1952), a story about detective Kalle Blumkvist (1946-1953).

Astrid Lindgren's books have been translated into 91 languages. The most popular stories related to the girl Pippi Long Stocking and Carlson, formed the basis of many theatrical productions and film adaptations.

All over the world, created by the writer.

Soon after the death of the writer in 2002, the Swedish government, in order to promote the development of children's and youth literature, was one of the largest in the field of literature for children and adolescents. The amount of monetary reward is 5 million Swedish kronor (500 thousand euros).

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources