Astrid Lindgren

Name at birth: Astrid Ericson

Astrid Lindgren is the author of the successful Pippi Longstocking series for young readers. She began writing stories for children in the 1930s, and in 1945 she published the original Pippi Longstocking (Pippi Långstrump), the first of many tales that featured a ponytailed girl with superhuman strength. Lindgren, who wrote dozens of books for children, also worked as an editor for a publishing house, where she used her influence to bring translations of the world's best children's literature to her native Sweden.