David Lagercrantz

David Lagercrantz (born 4 September 1962) is a Swedish journalist and author, internationally known as the author of '' I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović'', '' The Girl in the Spider’s Web'', ''The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye'' and ''The Girl Who Lived Twice''. The latter three of these works are the fourth, fifth and sixth instalments respectively in the ''Millennium'' series originated by Stieg Larsson. He is a board member of Swedish PEN.

Personal life

Lagercrantz grew up in Solna, Stockholm. He studied philosophy and religion at university and subsequently graduated from the Gothenburg school of journalism. He began his career as a reporter at regional newspaper ''Sundsvalls Tidning'' as a crime reporter and continued on to the national daily newspaper ''Expressen'', where he covered some of the major criminal cases of the late '80s and early '90s in Sweden, notably the Åmsele murders, later to become the topic of his book ''Änglarna i Åmsele'' (''The angels in Åmsele'').

Lagercrantz is the son of the literary scholar and publicist Olof Lagercrantz and Martina Ruin (daughter of Hans Ruin) and brother of the actress and diplomat Marika Lagercrantz. He is married to the media executive Anne Lagercrantz (sv.), with whom he has three children.

Author

His first book, ''Göran Kropp 8000+'', was released in 1997. The book is a biography of the Swedish adventurer and mountaineer Göran Kropp (1966–2002). In 2000, his biography of the inventor Håkan Lans, ''Ett svenskt geni'' (''A Swedish Genius''), was published. The book was turned into a documentary film, ''Patent 986''.

His breakthrough as a novelist was ''Fall of Man in Wilmslow'', a novel about the British mathematician Alan Turing. The response was consistently positive and the book has since sold in over 15 languages.

In 2005, ''Himmel över Everest'' was released: a fictional narrative of the catastrophe on Mount Everest in 1996 where twelve people died.

''I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović'' (2011)

In November 2011, David Lagercrantz's best-selling sports biography '' I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović'' was published. The Swedish language edition sold over 500,000 copies in six weeks making it the fastest selling book of all time in Sweden. The biography has today been translated into more than 30 languages. ''I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic'' received much attention as it contributed to an increased readership amongst boys and young men. It was nominated for The August Prize in 2012 and The William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2013. In ''Financial Times'', Simon Kuper called the biography "The best footballer's autobiography of recent years".

''The Girl in the Spider's Web'' (2015)

In December 2013, the Swedish publishing company Norstedts announced that Lagercrantz had been contracted to write the fourth novel in the ''Millennium'' series of crime novels, originally by Stieg Larsson (1954–2004). The novel was published on 27 August 2015 and was launched in 27 countries at the same time. It received consistent positive reviews, reached international sales records and landed on best seller lists all over the world. The novel was designated as one of the year's best thrillers in 2015 by the magazine ''Esquire'', and nominated to the 2016 Petrona Award in the category of Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

''The Girl in the Spider's Web'' was made by Sony Pictures into a 2018 film, with Claire Foy starring as iconic main character Lisbeth Salander. It is the second of the novels in the ''Millennium'' series to be directly filmed in English, the first being ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' in 2011, starring Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist. The previous three novels were also made into Swedish films. Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Álvarez directed the 2018 film, and co-wrote the screenplay with Steven Knight and Jay Basu.

''The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye'' (2017)

In September 2017, Lagercrantz's second contribution to the ''Millennium'' series was released. ''The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye'' received positive reviews, and was named No. 2 at ''The New York Times'' Best Sellers list only two weeks after being released.

Lagercrantz donated approximately €100,000 of his profits to Läsrörelsen, an organization working for children's and youth's readership. He also donated approximately €50,000 to Grävfonden, a foundation for training investigative journalists in Sweden.

''The Girl Who Lived Twice'' (2019)

In 2019, Lagercrantz's published the third novel in the series, ''The Girl Who Lived Twice''.

Awards

* Nominated to The August Prize in 2012 for ''I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic''
* Short-listed to The William Hill Sport Book of the Year in 2013 for ''I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic''
* Designated as one of the year's best thrillers in 2015 by the magazine Esquire for ''The Girl in the Spider’s Web''
* Short-listed to the 2016 Petrona Award – Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year for ''The Girl in the Spider’s Web''

Commitments

Board member of Swedish PEN, which fights for persecuted authors worldwide.

Actively involved in children's and youth's readership through Läsrörelsen.

Bibliography

* ''Göran Kropp 8000 plus'' (1997), biography of Göran Kropp
* ''Änglarna i Åmsele'' (1998), non-fiction, about the Åmsele triple murder case
* ''Ett svenskt geni'' (2000), biography of Håkan Lans
* ''Stjärnfall'' (2001), novel
* ''Där gräset aldrig växer mer'' (2002), novel
* ''Underbarnets gåta'' (2003), novel
* ''Himmel över Everest'' (2005), novel
* ''Ett svenskt geni – berättelsen om Håkan Lans och kriget han startade (second revised and expanded edition)'' (2006)
* ''Fall of Man in Wilmslow'' (2009), novel
* ''I am Zlatan Ibrahimović'' (Original title: ''Jag är Zlatan Ibrahimović'', 2011).
* ''The Girl in the Spider's Web'' (2015), novel, part four in the Millennium series
* ''The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye'' (2017), novel, part five in the Millennium series
* ''The Girl Who Lived Twice'' (August 2019), novel, part six in the Millennium series
*

Notes

External links

Official author website (in English)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagercrantz, David
Swedish journalists
Swedish male writers
Ghostwriters
1962 births
People from Solna Municipality
Living people
Millennium (novel series)
David