Marita Lindquist

Marita Lindquist
Born	Marita Elisabeth Gustafson (1918-11-10)10 November 1918 Helsinki, Finland
Died	7 June 2016(2016-06-07) (aged 97) Helsinki, Finland
Occupation	Novelist
Language	Swedish
Nationality	Finn
Period	1964–2000
Genre	Children’s literature
Notable works	Kotten series

Marita Elisabeth Lindquist (née Gustafson; 10 November 1918 – 7 June 2016) was a Finnish author of many children's books. Born in Helsinki, she was of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. In addition, she had written song lyrics, 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

Sources

• Uppslagsverket Finland. (in Swedish)
• Swedish and Finnish Wikipedia
• Biography.