Astrid Lindgren

It’s impossible to give an exact figure, but the official estimate is in the vicinity of 145 million copies worldwide.

At school, Astrid was already good at writing. In an exercise book from 2nd grade, there is a composition about a man and a bear, for which Astrid was awarded AB (mark: Very Good). Later on, her compositions were read out in front of the class, and at the age of 13 Astrid had her composition, På vår gård (On our Property) published by Wimmerby Tidning (the Vimmerby Times). According to the editor of the paper, her composition was “a sample of stylistic flair seldom seen among our youth”.

In the autumn of 1924 she began as a voluntary worker at Wimmerby Tidning where she was given the task of writing small notices and articles. The subject of one of the articles was the opening of the new railway line between Vimmerby and Ydrefors. In that paper she also had published a series of travelogue articles – one of which is the account of her visit with the author Ellen Key at her property, “Strand” on the shores of Lake Vättern.
From 1933-1944 (the year of her debut as a novelist) Astrid Lindgren also had many fairytales published in various magazines, including Mors hyllning (A Tribute to Mother) and Landsbygdens Jul (A Country Christmas). One of the pieces is about Olle and the aggressive dog, Svipp – a story which turns up again in the Bullerby books.

Karin, Astrid´s daughter, got her dedicated copy of the first edition of Pippi Longstocking dated the 26th of November, 1945, so this day counts as the birthday.

There is no Astrid Lindgren museum as such, but at the cultural centre, “Astrid Lindgrens Näs” in Vimmerby, there is a large, permanent exhibition about Astrid’s life and authorship. That is where you will also find her childhood home, which is still intact and open for guided tours, as well as a research library, etc.

It is also possible to take a virtual walk in Astrid´s apartment on Dalagan 46in Stockholm. This is the apartment to which Astrid and her family moved in 1941 and where she lived all her life. The apartment is kept entirely intact but is not open to the public for visits, except in this way.

http://www.astridlindgren.se/sites/default/files/dalagatan/index.html

Yes. In 1988, the USSR Academy of Sciences named asteroid #3204 after Astrid Lindgren. Astrid is said to have exclaimed: “Well, from now on you’ll have to call me Asteroid Lindgren.” The asteroid was discovered by the Russian astronomer, Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh on 1st September, 1978.

The asteroid is not, however, Astrid Lindgren’s only connection with astronomy. “Astrid-1” is the name of the first Swedish micro-satellite sent up from Russia in 1995, with instruments named after characters in Astrid Lindgren´s books.

But that’s not all. In 2006, the Swedish astronomer, Marie Rådbo persuaded the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to name a crater on Venus after Astrid Lindgren (craters on Venus are often named after historical women or goddesses).