Moa Martinson

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Statue of Moa Martinsson in Norrköping
Statue of Moa Martinsson in Norrköping

Moa Martinson (born Helga Maria Swarz) (November 2 1890 – August 5 1964) was a Swedish author. She wrote several well-known novels, but also contributed to social democratic newspapers and labor publications. She also wrote for Brand under the pen name of "Helga Johansson".

She was born in Vårdnäs, Linköping Municipality, the daughter of an unmarried factory girl. She belonged to a generation of Swedish authors with a working class background, including Vilhelm Moberg, Ivar Lo-Johansson, as well as her husband from 1929 to 1940, Harry Martinson.

Moa Martinson grew up in Norrköping. In her first marriage, to cement worker Karl Johansson, she had five children, two of which drowned in 1925. A few years later her husband killed himself. Her second marriage, to the fifteen years younger Harry Martinson, was a stormy affair, the couple separating, reuniting and finally divorcing in 1940.

Martinson's works focus on the life of women on the countryside and among the working class. Her autobiographical trilogy Mor gifter sig, Kyrkbröllop and Kungens rosor is perhaps her most well-known and popular work.

Martinson died in Södertälje.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Kvinnor och äppelträd (1933) (In English: Women and Apple Trees)
  • Sallys söner (1934) (In English: Sally's sons)
  • Rågvakt (1935)
  • Mor gifter sig (1936) (In English: My Mother Gets Married)
  • Kyrkbröllop (1938) (In English: Church Wedding)
  • Kungens rosor (1939) (In English: The King's Roses)
  • Vägen under stjärnorna (1940) (In English: The Road Under The Stars)
  • Brandliljor (1941)
  • Den osynliga älskaren (1943) (In English: The Invisible Lover)
  • Jag möter en diktare (1950)
  • Kvinnorna på Kummelsjö (1955) (In English: The Women At Kummelsjö)
  • Klocker vid sidenvägen (1957)
  • Hemligheten (1959) (In English: The Secret)

[edit] External links