Marita Elisabeth Lindquist (née Gustafson; 10 November 1918 – 7 June 2016) was a Finnish author of many
children's books
A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...
. Born in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, she was of the
Swedish-speaking population of Finland
The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names; fi, suomenruotsalainen) can be used as an attribute., group=Note—see #Terminology, below; sv, finlandssvenskar; fi, suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic mi ...
. In addition, she had written
song lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...
, illustrated books, and worked as a translator, materials writer, producer, editor, and journalist.
Lindquist graduated from high school in 1937 and then studied languages. She was the author of hundreds of song texts and poems. Her repertoire included about forty children's books (usually the characters are fictional but for instance in ''Santtu Ellinoora'' series they were inspired by her grandchildren).
At the time of her death, Lindquist was already a widow and had two daughters – Marika and Anki, a folk singer (1945–2007). She has received many awards (see ''Awards'' section), including National Literature Prize (1973, 1975) and Topelius Award (1982). Her books have been translated into many foreign languages.
Bibliography
* ''Malenas nya bror'', 1964
* ''Malena börjar skolan'', 1966
* ''Malenas finaste sommar'', 1967
* ''Malena och glädjen'', 1969
* ''Malena, 11 år'', 1975
* ''Toffe och Andrea'', 1976
* ''Andrea + 6 cm, Toffe + 7 cm'', 1977
* ''Kottens bakvända B'', 1978
* ''Du klarar det, Kotten'', 1978
* ''Kotten vågar inte gå hem'', 1978
* ''Vem tar hand om Kotten?'', 1979
* ''Toffe och Andrea i sommarskogen'', 1979
* ''Kalla mig Robban'', 1979
* ''Det var ditt fel Robban'', 1980
* ''Hugg i, Robban'', 1981
* ''Marielle och Madame'', 1982
* ''Marielle och Vera-Teresa'', 1983
* ''Columbus och Matilda'', 1984
* ''Av pappa, så klart! 1984
* ''Columbus klass 1B'', 1985
* ''Min katt heter Mirre Sundström: verser på lek och allvar'', 1985
* ''Det var inte jag'', 1988
* ''Du misstar dig Sanna'', 1988
* ''Vuokko Vendela Kristofferson'', 1989
* ''Stora planer, Sanna'', 1990
* ''Spöket James och benbrotten'', 1992
* ''Milligram och småspökena'', 1993
* ''Nikodemus'', 1995
* ''Festa och fira!: årets högtider förr och nu'', 1995
* ''Teater! Teater!'', 1998
* ''Majali i juni månad'', 2000
Awards
* 1970: Swedish Literature Society prize
* 1973: National Literature Prize
* 1975: National Literature Prize
* 1975: Bonniers children's scholarship
* 1980: Swedish Literature Society prize
* 1981: Swedish People's School Friends of Culture Prize
* 1982: Topelius Prize
* 1985: Swedish Authors' Fund prize
* 1989: State Children Cultural
* 1990: Nygrénska Foundation prize
* 1999: Cultural Foundation prize
* 2008: The Längman Culture Foundation Prize
See also
References
Sources
Uppslagsverket Finland.
* Swedish and Finnish Wikipedia
1918 births
2016 deaths
Writers from Helsinki
Finnish writers in Swedish
Finnish women novelists
Finnish children's writers
Swedish women children's writers
Swedish children's writers
Finnish women children's writers
20th-century Finnish women writers
20th-century Finnish novelists
20th-century Swedish women
{{Sweden-writer-stub