Biografie

Her most popular character was Pippi Longstocking, which was an instant hit among children when she first appeared in 1945. But parents often were shocked by the unruly Pippi, who rebelled against society and happily mocked institutions like the police and charity ladies.

Lindgren was immensely popular in her home country. Few Swedes will ever forget her restful voice reading the stories that have become an integrated part of Swedish culture and collective consciousness. A theme park, displaying several of the settings from her books, opened in 1989 in her hometown, and attracts about 300,000 visitors yearly.

Her book "Karlsson on the Roof" is exceptionally popular in Russia. Boris Pankin, the Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, told her in the early 1980's that this book was right behind the Bible as the two most commonly found books in the country. Lindgren responded "How remarkable. I had no idea the Bible was that popular".

She defended children's rights and animal welfare, lobbying an animal rights bill into law in 1998. That year the Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital opened, one of the biggest children's hospitals in northern Europe.

Her son Lars 'Lasse' Lindgren once said about his mother: "She wasn't the kind of mother who would sit quiet on a park-bench, watching her children play. She wanted to play herself and I suspect she found it as much fun as I did!"