Stieg Larsson
Encyclopedia
Karl Stig-Erland Larsson (ˈkaɭ ˈsti:ɡ ˈæɭand ˈlaʂɔn; 15 August 1954 – 9 November 2004), who wrote professionally as Stieg Larsson, was a Swedish
journalist
and writer
, born in Skelleftehamn
outside Skellefteå
. He is best known for writing the "Millennium series" of crime novels
, which were published posthumously. Larsson lived and worked much of his life in Stockholm
.
He was the second best-selling author in the world for 2008, behind Khaled Hosseini
. By March 2010, his "Millennium series" had sold 27 million copies in more than 40 countries, its last part, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest being the most sold book in the United States in 2010 according to Publishers Weekly
.
. In the book "There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me
(Seven Stories Press
, June 2011), Eva Gabrielsson
describes this as Larsson's motivation for setting part of his first novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
in northern Sweden, which Gabrielsson calls "godforsaken places at the back of beyond." Larsson lived with his grandparents in a small wooden house in the country which he loved. He attended the village school in Önnesmark and used cross-country skis to get to and from school every day. He was not as fond of the urban environment in Umeå where he moved to live with his parents after his grandfather, Severin Boström, died of a heart attack at age 56. His mother Vivianne also died at a young age in 1991 from complications with breast cancer and an aneurysm.
. An avid science fiction reader from an early age, he became active in Swedish science fiction fandom
around 1971, co-edited with Rune Forsgren his first fanzine
, Sfären, in 1972, and attended his first science fiction convention
, SF•72, in Stockholm. Through the 1970s, Larsson published around 30 additional fanzine issues; after his move to Stockholm in 1977 he became active in the Scandinavian SF Society where he was a board member in 1978 and 1979, and chairman in 1980. In his first fanzines, 1972–1974, he published a handful of early short stories while submitting others to other semi-professional or amateur magazines. He was co-editor or editor of several fanzines
, including Sfären and FIJAGH!; in 1978–1979 he was president of the largest Swedish science fiction fan club, Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction (SFSF).
In early June 2010, manuscripts for two such stories, as well as fanzines with one or two others, were noted in the Swedish National Library (to which this material had been donated a few years earlier, mainly by the Alvar Appeltofft Memorial Foundation, which works to further science fiction fandom in Sweden). This discovery of what was called "unknown" works by Larsson caused considerable publicity.
. In politics he was the editor of the Swedish Trotskyist
journal Fjärde internationalen, journal of the Swedish section of the Fourth International. He also wrote regularly for the weekly Internationalen
.
Larsson spent part of 1977 in Eritrea
, training a squad of female Eritrean People's Liberation Front
guerrillas in the use of grenade launchers. He was forced to abandon that work due to having contracted a kidney disease. Upon his return to Sweden, he worked as a graphic designer at the largest Swedish news agency, Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå
(TT) between 1977 and 1999.
Larsson's political convictions, as well as his journalistic experiences, led him to found the Swedish Expo Foundation, similar to the British Searchlight
Foundation, established to "counteract the growth of the extreme right and the white power-culture in schools and among young people." He also became the editor of the foundation's magazine, Expo
, in 1995.
When he was not at his day job, he worked on independent research of right-wing extremism in Sweden. In 1991, his research resulted in his first book Extremhögern (Extreme Right). Larsson quickly became instrumental in documenting and exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organizations; he was an influential debater and lecturer on the subject, reportedly living for years under death threat
s from his political enemies. The political party Sweden Democrats
(Sverigedemokraterna) was a major subject of his research.
, and published in the United Kingdom in February 2008. It was awarded the Glass Key award
as the best Nordic
crime novel in 2005. His second novel, Flickan som lekte med elden
(The Girl Who Played with Fire
), received the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award
in 2006, and was published in the United Kingdom in 2009. The third novel in the Millennium series, Luftslottet som sprängdes
("The air castle that was blown up"), published in English as The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
, was published in the United Kingdom in October 2009, and the United States in May 2010.
Larsson left about three quarters of a fourth novel on a notebook computer, now possessed by his partner, Eva Gabrielsson
; synopses or manuscripts of the fifth and sixth in the series, which he intended to contain an eventual total of ten books, may also exist. Gabrielsson has stated in her book, "There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me
(Seven Stories Press
, June 2011) that finishing the book is a task that she is capable of doing.
The Swedish film production company Yellow Bird
has produced film versions of the Millennium series, co-produced with The Danish film production company Nordisk Film and TV company
, which were released in Scandinavia in 2009.
at the age of 50 of a heart attack after climbing seven flights of stairs to his office because the lift was not working. There were rumours that his death was in some way induced, because of death threats received as editor of Expo
, but these have been denied by Eva Gedin, his Swedish publisher. Stieg Larsson is interred at the Högalid church cemetery in the district of Södermalm
in Stockholm.
In May 2008, it was announced that a 1977 will
, found soon after Larsson's death, declared his wish to leave his assets to the Umeå
branch of the Communist Workers League (now the Socialist Party). As the will was unwitnessed, it was not valid under Swedish law, with the result that all of Larsson's estate, including future royalties from book sales, went to his father and brother. His long term partner Eva Gabrielsson, who found the will, has no legal right to the inheritance, sparking controversy between her and his father and brother. Reportedly, the two never married because, under Swedish law, couples entering into marriage are required to make their addresses (at the time) publicly available; marrying would have been a security risk. Owing to his reporting on extremist groups and the death threats he had received, the couple had sought and been granted masking of their addresses, personal data and identity numbers
from public records, to make it harder for others to trace them; this kind of "identity cover" was integral to his work as a journalist and would have been difficult to bypass if the two had married or become registered partners.
An article in Vanity Fair
magazine discusses Gabrielsson's dispute with Larsson's relatives, which has also been well covered in the Swedish press. She claims the author had little contact with his father and brother and requests the rights to control his work so it may be presented in the way he would have wanted. Larsson's story was featured on the October 10, 2010 segment of CBS News Sunday Morning
. In this segment Larsson's family claims the fourth and as yet unpublished book is actually the fifth book.
's "Mallory," who first appeared in Mallory's Oracle
in 1994. In his work he made a habit of inserting the names of some of his favourites within the text, sometimes by making his characters read the works of his own favorite authors. Topping the list were Sara Paretsky
, Agatha Christie
, Val McDermid
, Dorothy Sayers, Elizabeth George
and Enid Blyton
. One of the strongest influences originates from his own country: Pippi Longstocking
, by Sweden's much-loved children's author Astrid Lindgren
. Larsson explained that one of his main recurring characters in the Millennium series, Lisbeth Salander, is actually fashioned on a grown-up Pippi Longstocking as he chose to sketch her.
When Larsson was 15 years old, he witnessed the gang rape of a girl, which led to his lifelong abhorrence of violence and abuse against women. His longtime partner, Eva Gabrielsson
, writes that this incident "marked him for life" in a chapter of her book that describes Larsson as a feminist. The author never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, and this inspired the themes of sexual violence against women in his books. According to Gabrielsson, the Millennium trilogy allowed Larsson to express a worldview he was never able to elucidate as a journalist. She described, with a great deal of specificity, how the fundamental narratives of his three books were essentially fictionalized portraits of the Sweden few people knew, a place where latent white supremacy found expression in all aspects of contemporary life, and antiextremists lived in persistent fear of attack. “Everything of this nature described in the Millennium trilogy has happened at one time or another to a Swedish citizen, journalist, politician, public prosecutor, unionist or policeman,” she writes. “Nothing was made up.”
There are also similarities between Larsson's Lisbeth Salander
and Peter O'Donnell
's Modesty Blaise
. Both are women from disastrous childhoods who somehow survive to become adults with notable skills, including fighting, and who accomplish good by operating somewhat outside the law. One of Larsson's villains, Ronald Niedermann (a.k.a. "blond hulk"), has much in common with the invulnerable, sociopathic giant named Simon Delicata in the fourth Modesty Blaise book A Taste for Death
.
Stieg Larsson is the first author to sell more than one million e-books on Amazon.com
.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, born in Skelleftehamn
Skelleftehamn
Skelleftehamn is a locality situated in Skellefteå Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 3,120 inhabitants in 2005....
outside Skellefteå
Skellefteå
-Industry:*Boliden AB, a big mining and smelting company*Alimak*Natural User Interface Technologies AB - NUITEQ, a promising emerging technology start-up company-Sports:*Skellefteå AIK, an ice hockey team in the highest Swedish league, Elitserien....
. He is best known for writing the "Millennium series" of crime novels
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
, which were published posthumously. Larsson lived and worked much of his life in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
He was the second best-selling author in the world for 2008, behind Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....
. By March 2010, his "Millennium series" had sold 27 million copies in more than 40 countries, its last part, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest being the most sold book in the United States in 2010 according to Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
.
Early life
Stieg Larsson lived with his grandparents until the age of nine in Västerbotten CountyVästerbotten County
Västerbotten County is a county or län in the north of Sweden. It borders the counties of Västernorrland, Jämtland, and Norrbotten, as well as the Norwegian county of Nordland and the Gulf of Bothnia.- Provinces :...
. In the book "There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me
"There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me
"There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me is a memoir written by Eva Gabrielsson, the life partner of Stieg Larsson, about life with the author and all of the complications surrounding his legacy...
(Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press is an independent publishing company. Located in New York City, the company was founded by editor Dan Simon in 1995 after he parted company with Four Walls Eight Windows. The company was named for its seven founding authors: Annie Ernaux, Gary Null, the estate of Nelson Algren,...
, June 2011), Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson is a Swedish architect, author, political activist, feminist, and the long-time partner of the late Swedish mystery novelist Stieg Larsson....
describes this as Larsson's motivation for setting part of his first novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series"....
in northern Sweden, which Gabrielsson calls "godforsaken places at the back of beyond." Larsson lived with his grandparents in a small wooden house in the country which he loved. He attended the village school in Önnesmark and used cross-country skis to get to and from school every day. He was not as fond of the urban environment in Umeå where he moved to live with his parents after his grandfather, Severin Boström, died of a heart attack at age 56. His mother Vivianne also died at a young age in 1991 from complications with breast cancer and an aneurysm.
Science fiction fan
Larsson's first fiction writing efforts were not in crime fiction, but in science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. An avid science fiction reader from an early age, he became active in Swedish science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
around 1971, co-edited with Rune Forsgren his first fanzine
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
, Sfären, in 1972, and attended his first science fiction convention
Science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of various forms of speculative fiction including science fiction and fantasy. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies and...
, SF•72, in Stockholm. Through the 1970s, Larsson published around 30 additional fanzine issues; after his move to Stockholm in 1977 he became active in the Scandinavian SF Society where he was a board member in 1978 and 1979, and chairman in 1980. In his first fanzines, 1972–1974, he published a handful of early short stories while submitting others to other semi-professional or amateur magazines. He was co-editor or editor of several fanzines
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
, including Sfären and FIJAGH!; in 1978–1979 he was president of the largest Swedish science fiction fan club, Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction (SFSF).
In early June 2010, manuscripts for two such stories, as well as fanzines with one or two others, were noted in the Swedish National Library (to which this material had been donated a few years earlier, mainly by the Alvar Appeltofft Memorial Foundation, which works to further science fiction fandom in Sweden). This discovery of what was called "unknown" works by Larsson caused considerable publicity.
Name change
Larsson's first name was originally Stig which is the standard spelling. In his early twenties, he changed it to avoid confusion with his friend Stig Larsson, who would go on to become a well-known author well before Stieg did. The pronunciation is the same regardless of spelling.Revolutionary socialist, activist, and journalist
Larsson was politically involved with the Kommunistiska Arbetareförbundet (Communist Workers League) while working as a photographer, and one of Sweden's leading science fiction fansScience fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
. In politics he was the editor of the Swedish Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
journal Fjärde internationalen, journal of the Swedish section of the Fourth International. He also wrote regularly for the weekly Internationalen
Internationalen
Internationalen is a Swedish Trotskyist weekly newspaper of the Socialist Party. It was established in 1971 originally by the name Mullvaden , and changed its name to Internationalen in 1974....
.
Larsson spent part of 1977 in Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, training a squad of female Eritrean People's Liberation Front
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front was an armed organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1970 as an intellectual left-wing group that split from the Eritrean Liberation Front .-Background:...
guerrillas in the use of grenade launchers. He was forced to abandon that work due to having contracted a kidney disease. Upon his return to Sweden, he worked as a graphic designer at the largest Swedish news agency, Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå
Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå
Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå – The Newspapers' Telegram Bureau – is a Swedish news agency, the largest in Scandinavia, owned jointly by the country's newspapers and the media groups behind them. TT's services are used as the exclusive source of national news by many local media outlets...
(TT) between 1977 and 1999.
Larsson's political convictions, as well as his journalistic experiences, led him to found the Swedish Expo Foundation, similar to the British Searchlight
Searchlight (magazine)
Searchlight is a British anti-fascist magazine, founded in 1975 by Gerry Gable, which publishes exposés about racism, antisemitism, and fascism in the UK....
Foundation, established to "counteract the growth of the extreme right and the white power-culture in schools and among young people." He also became the editor of the foundation's magazine, Expo
Expo (magazine)
Expo is a Swedish anti-racist magazine, started in 1995 and issued by the non-profit Expo Foundation . The magazine, issued four times a year, contains investigative journalism focused on nationalist, racist, anti-democratic, anti-semitic and far-right movements and organisations...
, in 1995.
When he was not at his day job, he worked on independent research of right-wing extremism in Sweden. In 1991, his research resulted in his first book Extremhögern (Extreme Right). Larsson quickly became instrumental in documenting and exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organizations; he was an influential debater and lecturer on the subject, reportedly living for years under death threat
Death threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...
s from his political enemies. The political party Sweden Democrats
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats is a political party in Sweden, founded in 1988. SD describes itself as a nationalist movement although others use the term far-right. Since 2005, its party chairman is Jimmie Åkesson, while Björn Söder is the party secretary and parliamentary group leader. An Anemone...
(Sverigedemokraterna) was a major subject of his research.
The novels
When he died, Larsson left behind manuscripts of three completed but unpublished novels written as a series. He had written them for his own pleasure after returning home from his job in the evening, and had made no attempt to get them published until shortly before his death. The first was published in Sweden in 2005 as Män som hatar kvinnor ("Men who hate women"). It was titled for the English market as The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series"....
, and published in the United Kingdom in February 2008. It was awarded the Glass Key award
Glass key award
The Glass Key award is a literature award given annually to a crime novel by an author from the Nordic countries.The award, named after the novel The Glass Key by American crime writer Dashiell Hammett, is a real glass key given every year by the members of the Crime Writers of Scandinavia to a...
as the best Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
crime novel in 2005. His second novel, Flickan som lekte med elden
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second novel in the best-selling "Millennium series" by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2006 and in English in January 2009....
(The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second novel in the best-selling "Millennium series" by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2006 and in English in January 2009....
), received the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award
Best Swedish Crime Novel Award
The Best Swedish Crime Novel Award is a literary prize awarded annually since 1982 by the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy.The winners of the award are:* 1982 - Leif GW Persson for Samhällsbärarna...
in 2006, and was published in the United Kingdom in 2009. The third novel in the Millennium series, Luftslottet som sprängdes
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is the third and final novel in the best-selling "Millennium series"by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.The novel is the sequel to The Girl Who Played with Fire....
("The air castle that was blown up"), published in English as The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is the third and final novel in the best-selling "Millennium series"by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.The novel is the sequel to The Girl Who Played with Fire....
, was published in the United Kingdom in October 2009, and the United States in May 2010.
Larsson left about three quarters of a fourth novel on a notebook computer, now possessed by his partner, Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson is a Swedish architect, author, political activist, feminist, and the long-time partner of the late Swedish mystery novelist Stieg Larsson....
; synopses or manuscripts of the fifth and sixth in the series, which he intended to contain an eventual total of ten books, may also exist. Gabrielsson has stated in her book, "There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me
"There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me
"There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me is a memoir written by Eva Gabrielsson, the life partner of Stieg Larsson, about life with the author and all of the complications surrounding his legacy...
(Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press is an independent publishing company. Located in New York City, the company was founded by editor Dan Simon in 1995 after he parted company with Four Walls Eight Windows. The company was named for its seven founding authors: Annie Ernaux, Gary Null, the estate of Nelson Algren,...
, June 2011) that finishing the book is a task that she is capable of doing.
The Swedish film production company Yellow Bird
Yellow Bird (company)
Yellow Bird is a Swedish film and television production company founded by best-selling novelist Henning Mankell and film-producers Ole Søndberg and Lars Björkman. The company was founded to produce films based on Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels. Yellow Bird was sold to Danish media house Zodiak...
has produced film versions of the Millennium series, co-produced with The Danish film production company Nordisk Film and TV company
Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film , established in Denmark in 1906 by Danish filmmaker Ole Olsen, is the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world. Olsen started his company in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby under the name "Ole Olsen's Film Factory" but soon changed it to the Nordisk Film Kompagni...
, which were released in Scandinavia in 2009.
Death and aftermath
Larsson died 9 November 2004 in StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
at the age of 50 of a heart attack after climbing seven flights of stairs to his office because the lift was not working. There were rumours that his death was in some way induced, because of death threats received as editor of Expo
Expo (magazine)
Expo is a Swedish anti-racist magazine, started in 1995 and issued by the non-profit Expo Foundation . The magazine, issued four times a year, contains investigative journalism focused on nationalist, racist, anti-democratic, anti-semitic and far-right movements and organisations...
, but these have been denied by Eva Gedin, his Swedish publisher. Stieg Larsson is interred at the Högalid church cemetery in the district of Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
in Stockholm.
In May 2008, it was announced that a 1977 will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, found soon after Larsson's death, declared his wish to leave his assets to the Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
branch of the Communist Workers League (now the Socialist Party). As the will was unwitnessed, it was not valid under Swedish law, with the result that all of Larsson's estate, including future royalties from book sales, went to his father and brother. His long term partner Eva Gabrielsson, who found the will, has no legal right to the inheritance, sparking controversy between her and his father and brother. Reportedly, the two never married because, under Swedish law, couples entering into marriage are required to make their addresses (at the time) publicly available; marrying would have been a security risk. Owing to his reporting on extremist groups and the death threats he had received, the couple had sought and been granted masking of their addresses, personal data and identity numbers
Personal identity number (Sweden)
The personal identity number is the Swedish national identification number. When it was introduced in 1947 it was probably the first of its kind covering the total resident population of a country...
from public records, to make it harder for others to trace them; this kind of "identity cover" was integral to his work as a journalist and would have been difficult to bypass if the two had married or become registered partners.
An article in Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
magazine discusses Gabrielsson's dispute with Larsson's relatives, which has also been well covered in the Swedish press. She claims the author had little contact with his father and brother and requests the rights to control his work so it may be presented in the way he would have wanted. Larsson's story was featured on the October 10, 2010 segment of CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...
. In this segment Larsson's family claims the fourth and as yet unpublished book is actually the fifth book.
Influences
Through his written works, as well as in interviews, Larsson acknowledged that a significant number of his literary influences were American and British crime/detective fiction authors. His heroine has some similarities with Carol O'ConnellCarol O'Connell
Carol O'Connell is an author of crime fiction, with a large series of crime books focusing around the character Kathy Mallory. The first book of nine novels about Mallory is Mallory's Oracle which was sent to England where it was auctioned in Europe, successfully. When it was brought back to the...
's "Mallory," who first appeared in Mallory's Oracle
Mallory's Oracle
Mallory's Oracle is the first novel in the Kathy Mallory series by author Carol O'Connell. The book was nominated for an Edgar Award and a Dilys Award. It was first published by Hutchinson in May 1994.-Plot:...
in 1994. In his work he made a habit of inserting the names of some of his favourites within the text, sometimes by making his characters read the works of his own favorite authors. Topping the list were Sara Paretsky
Sara Paretsky
Sara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction.-Life and career:Paretsky was born in Ames, Iowa and raised in Kansas, graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in...
, Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
, Val McDermid
Val McDermid
Val McDermid is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels starring her most famous creation, Dr. Tony Hill.-Biography:...
, Dorothy Sayers, Elizabeth George
Elizabeth George
Susan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain.Eleven of her novels featuring her lead character Inspector Lynley have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.-Biography:George was born in Warren, Ohio to Robert Edwin and Anne ...
and Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
. One of the strongest influences originates from his own country: Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking is a fictional character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, and adapted into multiple films and television series...
, by Sweden's much-loved children's author Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren , 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish author and screenwriter who is the world's 25th most translated author and has sold roughly 145 million copies worldwide...
. Larsson explained that one of his main recurring characters in the Millennium series, Lisbeth Salander, is actually fashioned on a grown-up Pippi Longstocking as he chose to sketch her.
When Larsson was 15 years old, he witnessed the gang rape of a girl, which led to his lifelong abhorrence of violence and abuse against women. His longtime partner, Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson
Eva Gabrielsson is a Swedish architect, author, political activist, feminist, and the long-time partner of the late Swedish mystery novelist Stieg Larsson....
, writes that this incident "marked him for life" in a chapter of her book that describes Larsson as a feminist. The author never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, and this inspired the themes of sexual violence against women in his books. According to Gabrielsson, the Millennium trilogy allowed Larsson to express a worldview he was never able to elucidate as a journalist. She described, with a great deal of specificity, how the fundamental narratives of his three books were essentially fictionalized portraits of the Sweden few people knew, a place where latent white supremacy found expression in all aspects of contemporary life, and antiextremists lived in persistent fear of attack. “Everything of this nature described in the Millennium trilogy has happened at one time or another to a Swedish citizen, journalist, politician, public prosecutor, unionist or policeman,” she writes. “Nothing was made up.”
There are also similarities between Larsson's Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander is a fictional character created by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. She is the heroine of Larsson's award-winning "Millennium series", first appearing in the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...
and Peter O'Donnell
Peter O'Donnell
Peter O'Donnell was a British writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of Modesty Blaise, a female action hero/undercover trouble-shooter/enforcer...
's Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows the adventures of Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin...
. Both are women from disastrous childhoods who somehow survive to become adults with notable skills, including fighting, and who accomplish good by operating somewhat outside the law. One of Larsson's villains, Ronald Niedermann (a.k.a. "blond hulk"), has much in common with the invulnerable, sociopathic giant named Simon Delicata in the fourth Modesty Blaise book A Taste for Death
A Taste for Death (Modesty Blaise)
A Taste for Death is the title of an action-adventure novel by Peter O'Donnell which was first published in 1969, featuring the character Modesty Blaise which O'Donnell had created for a comic strip several years earlier. It was the fourth novel to feature the character...
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Non-fiction books
- Stieg Larsson, Anna-Lena Lodenius: Extremhögern, Stockholm, 1991
- Stieg Larsson, Mikael Ekman: Sverigedemokraterna: den nationella rörelsen, Stockholm, 2001
- Stieg Larsson, Cecilia Englund: Debatten om hedersmord: feminism eller rasism, Stockholm, 2004
- Richard Slätt, Maria Blomquist, Stieg Larsson, David Lagerlöf m.fl.: Sverigedemokraterna från insidan, 2004
Novels
The Millennium series:- Män som hatar kvinnorThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series"....
("Men Who Hate Women"), 2005. English translation by Reg KeelandSteven T. MurraySteven T. Murray is an American translator from Swedish, German, Danish, and Norwegian. He has worked under the pseudonyms Reg Keeland and McKinley Burnett when edited into UK English...
under the title The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series"....
, January 2008. US release September 16, 2008. - Flickan som lekte med eldenThe Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with Fire is the second novel in the best-selling "Millennium series" by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2006 and in English in January 2009....
("The Girl Who Played with Fire"), 2006. English translation by Reg KeelandSteven T. MurraySteven T. Murray is an American translator from Swedish, German, Danish, and Norwegian. He has worked under the pseudonyms Reg Keeland and McKinley Burnett when edited into UK English...
under the title The Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with Fire is the second novel in the best-selling "Millennium series" by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2006 and in English in January 2009....
, January 2009. US release July 28, 2009. - Luftslottet som sprängdesThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' NestThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is the third and final novel in the best-selling "Millennium series"by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.The novel is the sequel to The Girl Who Played with Fire....
("The Grandeur Fantasy that was Blown up"), 2007. English translation by Reg KeelandSteven T. MurraySteven T. Murray is an American translator from Swedish, German, Danish, and Norwegian. He has worked under the pseudonyms Reg Keeland and McKinley Burnett when edited into UK English...
under the title The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' NestThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' NestThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is the third and final novel in the best-selling "Millennium series"by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.The novel is the sequel to The Girl Who Played with Fire....
, October 2009 (UK release). US release date May, 2010.
Periodicals edited
- Sfären, FIJAGH! and other science fiction fanzines, 1972 and later
- Svartvitt med Expo, 1999–2002
- ExpoExpo (magazine)Expo is a Swedish anti-racist magazine, started in 1995 and issued by the non-profit Expo Foundation . The magazine, issued four times a year, contains investigative journalism focused on nationalist, racist, anti-democratic, anti-semitic and far-right movements and organisations...
, 2002–2004
Awards
- 2006 – Glass Key awardGlass key awardThe Glass Key award is a literature award given annually to a crime novel by an author from the Nordic countries.The award, named after the novel The Glass Key by American crime writer Dashiell Hammett, is a real glass key given every year by the members of the Crime Writers of Scandinavia to a...
, Män som hatar kvinnorThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series".... - 2006 – Best Swedish Crime Novel AwardBest Swedish Crime Novel AwardThe Best Swedish Crime Novel Award is a literary prize awarded annually since 1982 by the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy.The winners of the award are:* 1982 - Leif GW Persson for Samhällsbärarna...
, Flickan som lekte med eldenThe Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with Fire is the second novel in the best-selling "Millennium series" by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was published posthumously in Swedish in 2006 and in English in January 2009.... - 2008 – Glass Key awardGlass key awardThe Glass Key award is a literature award given annually to a crime novel by an author from the Nordic countries.The award, named after the novel The Glass Key by American crime writer Dashiell Hammett, is a real glass key given every year by the members of the Crime Writers of Scandinavia to a...
, Luftslottet som sprängdes - 2008 – ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for International Author of the Year, UK, for The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series"....
. - 2008 – Exclusive Books Boeke PrizeExclusive Books Boeke PrizeThe Exclusive Books Boeke Prize is a book prize awarded in South Africa, loosely modelled on the United Kingdom's Man Booker Prize, and sponsored by Exclusive Books...
, South Africa, for The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series".... - 2009 – Galaxy British Book Awards, Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year, UK, for The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series"....
- 2009 – Anthony AwardAnthony AwardThe Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
, Best First Novel, for The Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an award-winning crime novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book in the trilogy known as the "Millennium series".... - 2009 – General Council of the Judiciary, Spain, for his contribution to the fight against domestic violence.
- 2010 – USA Todays Author of the Year
Stieg Larsson is the first author to sell more than one million e-books on Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
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Further reading
- The Stieg Larsson phenomenon arts review by David Walsh
- Barry Forshaw, The Man Who Left Too Soon: the Biography of Stieg Larsson, John BlakeJohn BlakeColonel John Y. F. Blake was born October 6, 1856 in Bolivar, Missouri, and died January 24, 1907, New York City. An American soldier, freedom fighter and lecturer. He was an ardent Irish American and an advocate of resistance to British imperialism.After his birth his family soon moved to Denton...
, 2010. - Expo's memorial page for Stieg Larsson /
- In praise of… Stieg Larsson, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Culture Editorial, 3 October 2009 - Thriller with a radical message, Socialist WorkerSocialist WorkerSocialist Worker is the name of several socialist/communist newspapers associated with the International Socialist Tendency...
, 15 April 2010
External links
- www.larssontrilogy.com from Quercus, publishers of Stieg Larsson
- The official Millennium site of Nordstedt Publishing
- A look at the life and work of author Stieg Larsson
- The Millennium Tour - Stockholm City Museum
- www.themillenniumtour.com – The Millennium Tour in Stockholm