Lindgren, Astrid

Swedish author, born and raised on the estate of Näs, just outside Vimmerby in Småland. The parents, Samuel August and Hanna Ericsson, were farmers. After obtaining her junior secondary school certificate (’realexamen’) in 1923, with Swedish as her best subject, Astrid Lindgren worked as a proofreader at Wimmerby Tidning. She also wrote news items and short articles. In 1926 she moved to Stockholm in order to study to become a secretary. In the same year she gave birth to her son Lars (died in 1986), who lived in a foster family for the first few years. In 1928 she was employed as a clerk at KAK. There she also met her future husband, the office manager Sture Lindgren (died in 1952). The couple married in 1931 and three years later Astrid got her second child, the daughter Karin.