Author. Born Astrid Anna Emilia Ericsson at Näs, Småland, Sweden, the daughter of Hanna Jonsson and Samuel August Ericsson, a farmer. After school she worked for a time with a local newspaper in Vimmerby, before moving to Stockholm where she became a secretary at the Royal Automobile Club. There she met, Sture Lindgren, who would become her husband in 1931. With the outbreak of the Second World War, she began keeping a journal, recording eventually, 17 volumes of diaries; in 1944, she first recorded notes about a character she invented to amuse her children: Pippi Longstocking. That same year, she won second prize in a competition offered by a new publishing house with the novel 'Britt-Marie lättar sitt hjärta' (Britt-Marie Unburdens Her Heart). A year later she won first prize in the same competition with 'Pippi Långstrump' (Pippi Longstocking). The book made her reputation and was followed by several sequels including 'Pippi Goes on Board' (1946) and 'Pippi in the South Seas' (1948), all of which were eventually translated into some seven dozen languages world wide. ; 'The Children of Noisy Village' published in 1947, introduced the Six Bullerby Children. 'Mio, My Son' (1954), won the Children's Book Award, and 'Karlsson on the Roof ' was first published in 1955. In 1958, she received a Hans Christian Andersen Medal for 'Rasmus and the Vagabond.' Another popular character emerged in 1963 with 'Emil in the Soup Tureen.' Concurrent with her writing, she worked as a children’s book editor for Rabén & Sjögren until 1970, when she retired from her position. Further writings, however, included 'The Brothers Lionheart' (1973), 'Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter' (1981), and 'Pippi Goes to School' (1998). In later life her eyesight began to fail, and at ninety-one, she suffered a stroke. In 1997, she was declared International Swede of the Year by the Svenskar i Världe association. Upon her death at at 94, mourners along the route of her funeral cortège were estimated to have been near 100,000, while her funeral was attended by 1,500 people including King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. In 2011, the Bank of Sweden announced her portrait would be included on the 20 kroner banknote. In 2015, her collected wartime diaries were published as 'Krigsdagböcjer' (War Diaries).