Astrid Ericsson was born on November 14, 1907 in Vimmerby, Sweden. The daughter of a wealthy peasant had to go a long way to become one of the most recognized and beloved female writers in the world. She revealed her talent and sense of humor early, as she published her essay in a local newspaper at the age of thirteen. At the age of 16, she passed the gymnasium exam, and shortly thereafter began working in the “Gazeta Vimmerby” as a proofreader and author of short texts. She was famous for her sense of humor and rebellious spirit – she was the first in her pages to cut her hair short, which caused the agitation of passers-by in the streets. Working in the editorial office had an unexpected result. At eighteen, she became pregnant with a married editor-in-chief, which in 1926 was unacceptable to the community. She went to Stockholm to give birth to a son, Lars, in December this year. She placed him in foster care for three years, then she lived with him for a few months, and then he stayed with his grandparents for a year. Astrid was able to take him with her only after she got married, which happened in 1931. All her life she lamented that she could not take care of him from birth.
In 1934, a daughter, Karin, the founder of Pippi Posenshanka and a future translator, was born out of a marriage with Sture Lindgren.
Lindgren made her debut at the age of 37, and her first book was Britt-Maria’s Confessions. From the beginning, the author broke with moralizing and focused on absurd humor, fantasy, references to folklore and common sense. Her imagination had no limits, as evidenced by such books as: Detective Blomkvist, Nils Paluszek, Mio, my Mio, Children from the Adventurer Street, Emil from Småland, Brothers Lionheart, Madika and a toddler from June Hill, Ronja, the robber’s daughter, Dzieci from Bullerbynand many others. Of course, we cannot fail to mention the alter-ego of the writer, Pippi Longstocking, the protagonist of wayward, rebellious, crazy, strong and intelligent. Pippi doesn’t go to school, doesn’t listen to adults, and is doing great on her own. He can even pick up a horse! Two well-ordered neighborhood children enter the life and… it is just starting to happen.
The writer, apart from international recognition, has received many awards, incl. Order of the Smile from Polish Children. Her books have been translated into many languages, and their circulation so far is almost 200 million copies. Astrid Lindgren spoke out against violence against children, including Thanks to her influence, Sweden introduced a law prohibiting violence against children (in 1979). She also lobbied for animal rights. The strictest law of its time to improve their fate was called Lex Lindgren.
Maybe I will encourage you to dust off the classics on the occasion of the honorable anniversary?
There was an old house in the garden, and Pippi Longstocking lived in that house. She was nine years old and lived there completely alone. She had neither mummy nor daddy, and therefore no one to tell her to go to bed just when she was having her best and no one to make her drink cod liver oil if she preferred candy.
She could pick up an entire horse if she wanted to. Sometimes she felt like it (…) He lived on the porch. And when Pippi wanted to have an after-dinner coffee there, she carried him out to the garden as if nothing had happened.
This prose does not get old at all! What, perhaps one of the stories of the great Astrid could be recalled, just to improve the humor?
