Mer om Astrid Lindgren/more about Astrid Lindgren...

Det stod mer om Astrid Lindgren i Lärarnas tidning idag och det var så intressant att jag vill skriva mer om henne...

Astrid föddes som Astrid Ericsson i en familj med tre syskon; två systrar och en bror.

"Vi lekte och lekte och lekte, så det var konstigt att vi inte lekte ihjäl oss"

har hon berättat om sin barndom, på bondgården utanför Vimmerby i Småland.

När hon som 17 åring hade shinglat håret (tror jag), sa hennes pappa Samuela August:

"Då är det väl ingen idé att du kommer hem".

När hon väl kom hem var det ingen som sa något. Astrid satt på en stol och de andra gick runt henne och tittade förundrat.

Under sitt 18:e levnadsår blev Astrid gravid och barnafadern friade men Astrid sa nej. Hennes pappa var emot giftermålet och sa att

"Det räcker väl med en olycka!"

Jag tror barnafadern var chefredaktören på Wimmerby tidning.

Astrids mamma Hanna sa

"Vi sä'r [säger] inget utåt"

om sådant som skulle stanna i familjen. Vilket gällde inte minst när Astrid blev med barn som tonåring i en liten småstad på 20-talet. Hon åkte bort för att föda sin son Lars och han bodde sina första tre år i Köpenhamn.

1928 träffade Astrid sin blivande make, alltså 21 år gammal... 1931 gifte de sig och Astrid blev hemmafru, i en tvårumslägenhet på Vulcanusgatan i Stockholm. 1941 flyttade de till en större lägenhet på Dalagatan där Astrid sedan levde resten av sitt liv.

Astrid lyckades efter många om och men ta körkort,

"Sveriges dyraste körkort"

enligt henne själv. Dock insåg hon redan efter ett år sina begränsningar som bilförare och cyklade resten av livet.

När Astrid skulle ta emot bokhandlarnas pris i Tyskland 1978 godkändes inte talet hon tänkt hålla, det ansågs för kontroversiellt, så man bad henne att bara ta emot priset utan att hålla något tal. Detta vägrade dock Astrid och hotade hon med att inte komma alls och hon fick till slut hålla det provocerande talet - om aga!!!

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In the teachers paper that came today it stood more interesting things about Astrid Lindgren I felt I wanted to forward.

Astrid Lindgren was born as Astrid Ericsson November 14, 1907, on the small farm Näs just outside Vimmerby in Småland (Swedish site about Vimmerby) with three siblings; two sisters and one brother. She was the second child in line after her brother Gunnar (born 1906, maternal grandfather of Karin Alvtegen, see earlier blog post about Astrid Lindgren in the end about her and the blog post "12 questions to Karin Alvtegen" from her website).

"We played and played and played, so it was strange we didn't play ourselves to death"

Astrid said about her childhood.

When she had shingled her hair as 17 year old and phoned her father about this, to which her father Samuel August replied:

"You'd better not come home then".

When she at last came home noone said anything. She sat on a chair and the others walked around her looking at her silently - struck with wonder.

At 18 she got pregnant with the editor-in-chief at the local newspaper in Vimmerby as the coming father, he asked her to marry her but Astrid said no.

Her mother Hanna used to say when things occurred in the family:

"Let's not say anything to any outer person (outside the family)."

And so she did this time too.

Astrid went away when it was time for the birth and got a son, which spent his first three years in Copenhagen and one year with his maternal grandparents at Näs till Astrid got married 1931 with a man she had met 1928. At first she was home as housewife. 1934 she got the daughter Karin.

Her son Lars is supposed to have said about his mother:

"She wasn't that sort of a mother which was sitting silently in the park on a bench watching her playing children. She wanted to play herself and I suspect she thought it was as fun as I did!"

Yes, Astrid Lindgren in a nutshell I think!

After many struggles she took a Drivers License,

"The most expensive Drivers License in Sweden"

Astrid said, so she must have taken a lot of lessons!! Already after one year Astrid realized her limitations as car-driver and cycled the rest of her life!!

When she should receive the reward in Germany 1978 she was asked not to hold the speech she had thought of, it was seen as too controversial. But then Astrid said that she would not come to the ceremony at all. In the end she held her speech - about corporal punishment of children!!!

Addition: Astrid's engagement in animals rights resulted in the law Lex Lindgren 1987 as a gift on her 80th birthday from the hands of our prime minister Ingvar Carlsson, but she wasn't entirely satisfied with this law, thought it was half of what the government had promised. She frankly said what she thought about this! As the straightforward she could be. :-)

Astrid Lindgren world on this site, really worth a visit.

And also see the site Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award – Alma.