Pipi Longstocking’s Creator Passes Away

What would my childhood have been without her? That’s what generations of children, who grew up reading her books must be asking themselves as the news of children’s author Astrid Lindgren’s death trickles in.

Whether it was the reckless, freckle-faced Pipi Longstocking, the mischievous farmer boy Emil or the plump Karlsson-on-the-roof, Lindgren delighted millions around the world with her wild yarns and unruly fictional characters.

The popular Swedish author died at home in Stockholm on Monday at the age of 94, after battling a viral infection.

Startling range of works

Dipping into her own childhood memories of the Swedish countryside for inspiration, Lindgren wrote more than 100 works.

They include novels, short stories, plays, song books, scripts and poetry. Lindgren’s works were translated into 68 languages and sold more than 40 million copies world-wide. About 40 films and television stories were based on her stories.

Astrid Lindgren born Astrid Ericsson on November 14, 1907 as the daughter of a farmer in southern Sweden, had never planned on writing a book.

At the age of 37, bedridden with a broken ankle, she began to put her imagination to paper and write stories for her daughter, Karin. The result was "Britt-Mari opens her heart" (1944) and "Pipi Longstocking" (1945).

Veering away from the beaten path

Not for her the conventional "good versus evil" and "they lived happily ever after" themes. Lindgren’s books didn’t just reflect a happy and perfect children’s world.

Rather they even dealt with provocative topics such as social differences and the death of children in a sensitive and moving manner. The message she gave her readers was – it’s okay to be scared and you can be brave in spite of that.

"I write to amuse the child within me and can only hope that other children may have some fun that way too", Astrid Lindgren once wrote.

Lindgren recalled 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.

Her most popular character is undoubtedly the braided, freckle-faced Pipi Longstocking with the unmistakable red hair and mismatched stockings.

Pipi is a carefree, unruly child with grazed knees. She shinnies up trees, munches on apples, rebels against society and happily mocks institutions such as the police and ladies of charity.

She is the strongest girl in the world, fears no one and carries a monkey called Mr Nilsson on her shoulder.

Activist and campaigner

Considering her free-thinking and unconventional views, it’s hardly surprising that the Swedish author was also active in supporting political and humanitarian causes.

In 1976, she protested against the Swedish taxation system by resigning from the Social Democratic Party of Sweden. She published a fierce satire, Pomperipossa, In the World of Money, in which she flayed tax legislation. The law was changed.

She also tirelessly campaigned for children’s and animal rights and succeeded in turning an animal rights bill into law in 1998. In the same year, the Astrid Lindgren’s Children Hospital opened, one of the biggest children’s hospital in Northern Europe.

Honoured and admired

The master storyteller was honoured with awards and citations throughout her lifetime.

In Sweden, where she is a larger-than-life national figure, Astrid Lindgren received the prestigious Alternative Nobel Prize for her "lifelong battle for the rights of children" in 1994.

Earlier in 1965, she picked up the Swedish National prize for Literature, in 1978 the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and in 1993 the International Book Prize of the UNESCO.