Henning Mankell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Henning Mankell
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Henning Mankell in New York City in April 2011
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| Born | Henning Georg Mankell 3 February 1948 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Died | 5 October 2015 (aged 67) Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Occupation | Novelist, playwright, publisher |
| Period | 1991–2009 (Kurt Wallander series) |
| Genre | Crime fiction Thriller |
| Notable works | The Kurt Wallander novels |
| Spouse |
Eva Bergman
(m. 1998) |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Ingmar Bergman (father-in-law) |
Henning Georg Mankell (3 February 1948 – 5 October 2015) was a famous Swedish writer. He wrote exciting crime fiction novels, books for children, and plays. He is best known for his mystery novels about Inspector Kurt Wallander. Mankell also wrote many plays and TV shows.
He was a social critic who cared deeply about fairness. In his books and plays, he often showed problems like social inequality and injustice. He wanted to make the world a better place. In 2010, Mankell was on a ship called the MV Mavi Marmara. This ship was part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which tried to bring help to people in Gaza.
Mankell spent his time between Sweden and countries in Africa, especially Mozambique. In Mozambique, he started a theatre. He also gave a lot of money to charities, especially those helping people in Africa.
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Life and Career
Henning Mankell was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1948. His grandfather, also named Henning Mankell, was a composer. When Mankell was one year old, his parents divorced. He and his older sister lived with their father.
They first lived in Sveg, a town in northern Sweden. Mankell's father was a judge there. Mankell later said this time was one of the happiest in his life. A museum was even built in Sveg to honor him.
When he was thirteen, his family moved to Borås. At 16, he left school and went to Paris. Soon after, he worked on a cargo ship as a merchant marine. He enjoyed the hard-working people on the ship. In 1966, he went back to Paris to become a writer. He even took part in the student protests of 1968.
Later, he worked backstage at a theatre in Stockholm. By age 20, he was already writing for the Riksteatern theatre. His first play, The Amusement Park, was about Swedish colonialism in South America. In 1973, he published The Stone Blaster, a novel about the Swedish labour movement. He used the money from this book to travel to Guinea-Bissau in Africa.
Africa became like a second home to him. He spent much of his life there. When he became a successful writer, he started and ran a theatre in Mozambique.
The Kurt Wallander Novels
From 1991 to 2013, Mankell wrote the books that made him famous worldwide. These were the Kurt Wallander mystery novels. Wallander is a detective who lives in Ystad, Sweden. He and his team solve difficult murder cases. The stories often show the team working late under pressure. Wallander also thinks a lot about his daughter, his health, and problems in Swedish society.
There were ten books in the Wallander series. They were translated into many languages and sold millions of copies. The success of these books allowed Mankell to work on other projects he cared about.
Work in Africa and Other Projects
After living in Zambia and other African countries, Mankell became the artistic director of Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique, in 1986. He spent a lot of time in Maputo, working with the theatre and writing. He also started his own publishing house, Leopard Förlag. This company helped young writers from Africa and Sweden. His novel Chronicler of the Winds (1995) tells stories about African problems.
In 2008, he received an honorary degree from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. This was to recognize his great writing and his work for good causes.
Around 2008, Mankell wrote two stories for a German police TV series called Tatort. He also planned to write a TV series about his father-in-law, the famous director Ingmar Bergman. By the time he passed away, Mankell had written over 40 novels. More than 40 million copies of his books had been sold around the world.
Personal Life
Mankell was married four times and had four sons: Thomas, Marius, Morten, and Jon. In 1998, he married Eva Bergman, who is the daughter of the film director Ingmar Bergman.
Death
In January 2014, Mankell announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and throat cancer. In May 2014, he shared that his treatments were working well.
He wrote a series of articles about his experience with cancer. He described how it felt to get the diagnosis, to be supported, and to wait for results. He also wrote about how important cancer research is. Three weeks before he died, he wrote about how a serious illness can change a person's identity. His last article was published after his death on October 6.
Henning Mankell died on October 5, 2015, at the age of 67.
Gaza Flotilla
In 2010, Henning Mankell was on a ship called the MS Sofia. This ship was part of a group trying to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. On May 31, 2010, Israeli soldiers boarded the ships. Mankell was sent back to Sweden. After this, he asked for countries around the world to put sanctions on Israel.
It was reported that he was thinking about stopping his books from being translated into Hebrew. However, in June 2011, Mankell wrote in an Israeli newspaper that he never considered doing this. He said that someone else had pretended to be him to make that false claim.
Mankell was also supposed to join "Freedom Flotilla II" in June 2011, but that trip never happened.
Charity and Legacy
Henning Mankell was very generous. In 2007, he gave 15 million Swedish crowns (about 1.5 million euros) to SOS Children's Villages. This money helped build a children's village in Chimoio, Mozambique. He gave large amounts of money to other charities as well, like Hand in Hand.
In the 1980s, Mankell visited refugee camps in Mozambique. He also went with the UN High Commissioner to refugee camps in South Africa. In 2013, he visited Congolese refugees in Uganda. He wrote about the difficult lives of refugees. After his death, his website asked for donations to the UN Commission on Refugees in his name.
A literary prize was created in Mozambique, called the Festival Fim do Caminho Literary Prize. The theme for its first short story contest, "Crime in Mozambique," was chosen to honor Mankell.
Works
Wallander Series
Kurt Wallander is a made-up police inspector who works in Ystad, Sweden. In the novels, he and his team solve shocking murders. The books often ask: "What went wrong with Swedish society?"
The series won many awards. These include the German Crime Prize and the British 2001 CWA Gold Dagger for Sidetracked (1995).
The ninth book, The Pyramid (1999), tells stories from Wallander's past. It shows what happened before the first book, Faceless Killers (1991). It includes five shorter stories:
- Wallander's First Case
- The Man with the Mask
- The Man on the Beach
- The Death of the Photographer
- The Pyramid
Ten years after The Pyramid, Mankell published another Wallander novel, The Troubled Man (2009). He said this would be the very last book in the series.
Linda is Kurt Wallander's daughter. She becomes a police officer, just like him. Mankell planned to write three novels with her as the main character. However, the actress who played Linda in the Swedish TV series passed away. Mankell was so sad that he decided to stop the series after only the first novel.
Film and Television
Original Screenplays for Television
- Etterfølgeren (The Successor) (1997 film)
- Labyrinten (2000), TV mini-series
- Talismanen (2003), TV mini-series (co-written with Jan Guillou)
- Unnamed Ingmar Bergman docudrama (2012), TV mini-series
Film and Television Adaptations of Novels
- Wallander (1997–2007) Swedish TV series.
- Wallander (2005, 2009, 2013) Swedish TV series.
- Wallander (2008, 2010, 2012, 2016) British TV series.
Awards and Honours
- 1991 – Swedish Crime Writers' Academy, Best Swedish Crime Novel Award for Faceless Killers
- 1991 – Nils Holgersson Plaque for A Bridge to the Stars
- 1992 – Glass Key award For Best Nordic Crime Novel: Faceless Killers
- 1993 – Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for A Bridge to the Stars
- 1995 – Swedish Crime Writers' Academy, Best Swedish Crime Novel Award for Sidetracked
- 1996 – Astrid Lindgren Prize
- 2001 – Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year: Sidetracked
- 2001 – Corine Literature Prize for One Step behind
- 2004 – Toleranzpreis der Evangelischen Akademie Tutzing
- 2005 – Gumshoe Award for Best European Crime Novel: The Return of the Dancing Master
- 2008 – Corine Literature Prize for the German Audiobook The Man from Beijing
See also
In Spanish: Henning Mankell para niños
