Sven Lindqvist – a long life in the truth's service

Born in Stockholm on the 28th of march, the son of folkskollärarna Oscar and Signhild Lindqvist.

at the age Of ten he reads lots of adventure books such as Texas Jack and Hjortfot. But he also happens to read missionary Edvard Vilhelm Sjöbloms diary ”In the shade” and then get up the eyes for the racist atrocities. Sjöblom tells us about the Belgian colonization of the Congo in the 1880s, during the reign of king Leopold II, when millions of people died. Sjöbloms advocacy work around the genocide in the Congo made an impression on the kid Lindqvist.

So remember colleagues Sven Lindqvist: He was a non-fiction star

Starting in Södra latins gymnasium. This is elected to chairman of the school's company EV (Unity and Friendship), becomes editor of the school newspaper and takes the initiative to form the YMCA Southern gymnasistklubb. In the summer, the lifts, he will move through the united kingdom, Italy and France. As a seventeen year old he's reading Joseph Conrad's ”heart of Darkness”, which later inspires to ”Eradicate every last bastard”.

Recruited as employees in the DN:s kultursida. Here he comes to help with kulturartiklar, reportage and travels the rest of life, especially during Olof Lagercrantz time as the director of cultural affairs. Four years later, he is debuting as a writer with the essay ”A proposal” (1955).

get married with the prospective china expert Cecilia Lindqvist. The couple later receive the children, Aaron, 1964, and Clara in 1970.

The nygifte Sven Lindqvist annoyed at the past of the edict that each home must have an expensive sofa. The result was the little essäboken ”Advertising is lethal” tremendous attention and arouse much criticism. The book became a pioneer in the konsumtionskritiken and still comes out in new editions. Only in France is the book in its seventh edition.

Read more: 5 highlights from the Sven lindqvist's writing

Traveling with his wife Cecilia to China to study chinese. Appointed as cultural attaché in Beijing and stops at the record in two years. After years in China writing for the spouses a couple of common books, ”China from the inside” (1963) and the ”Asian experience” (1964), which attracts much international attention.

Literary Sven and Cecilia Lindqvist 1964. Photo: TT

Phd with a dissertation on the literary history of Vilhelm Ekelund, ”the Diary and the poem”. ”Detective story” was a judgement that one of the opponents, and the prospective akademiledamoten Kjell Espmark, used in his praise. The year däpå he comes out with ”the Myth of Wu Tao-tzu”, where Sven lindqvist's classic mixture of the two of autobiography, literary analysis, reportage and social criticism is already fully utblommad.

Read more: the Author Sven Lindqvist is dead

Gets the Big prize for journalism for three reportageserier in DN which is the basis for the book ”Slagskuggan”, where he depicts the events and meetings during a 14 months long journey through Latin america, from Cuba in the north to tierra Del fuego in the south. During the years 1967-1973 make the couple Lindqvist further travels in south America, resulting in two internationally acclaimed studies on the jordfördelning and social change in countries marked by conflict between the fattigbönder and wealthy landowners, ”the Earth, and power in south America” (1973) and ”Earth dawn” (1974).

Sven Lindqvist during a demonstration at Sergels torg in 1973. Photo: Örjan Björkdahl

With the book ”Dig where you stand” coining Sven Lindqvist, a new expression. It is a great value in ordinary people researching their family, their work and their village's history, he says. The expression gives rise to Grävrörelsen, who formed study groups and research groups with the goal of producing local and popular knowledge. Appointed a year later an honorary doctorate at Uppsala university.

Coming out with ”A lover's diary', which is all about the love of Cecilia Lindqvist. When the book begins, they are both 13 years old and at the end, they are 21 and buying their first piece of furniture. The following year followed the book up with ”A married man's diary”. Five years later, differs Sven Lindqvist and married with Agneta Stark.

Read more: Stefan Jonsson: Sven Lindqvist, saw and wrote with shocking clarity

Muskelbyggandets decade with Arnold Schwarzenegger as bicepspumpande years are taking their toll also in Sven Lindqvist's writing. Essäboken ”Bench press” dig in kroppsbyggandets history and philosophy, and tells of an intellectual man's journey of discovery in skivstängernas world. Training evokes dreams and memories of childhood to life.

”Exterminate every single bastard” leads to a great day. The reason is that Sven Lindqvist sees a continuity between the crimes and genocide committed during colonialism and the Holocaust during the second world war. Another main idea is that western economic progress would not have been possible without a racist policy of extermination in the colonies. With the book, Sven Lindqvist, may a new breakthrough. The book is set later up in the theatre, and there have been plans for a british film adaptation.

”Now you died: bombernas century” (1999), a book in 400 ensideskorta pieces consider the 1900-century, from the bombed perspective. The flight, the bomb, the rocket and nuclear weapons were developed after first carefully tested in the colonies in Africa and Asia. The book is translated into several languages. In an interview in the magazine in 2007, We describe the Swedish Academy, the then permanent secretary Horace Engdahl the book as ”a literary innovation of major proportions” and calls Sven Lindqvist, ”one of the most important writers in modern american literature”.

In the book ”Terra Nullius -- a journey through no one's land” makes Sven Lindqvist, a journey both across the australian continent and over the australian history of ideas. ”Terra nullius” meaning ”empty land” and provided a pretext when the colonists took possession of the aboriginal territories. ”You could say that I travel to a number of places where the ”exterminate every single bastard” has been realised", said Sven Lindqvist in an interview in Today's News.

Sven Lindqvist in his home in 2018. Photo: Hossein Salmanzadeh/TT

Sven Lindqvist looks back at his life and writings in the book ”Sanningskonst”. In a conversation with the author Stefan Jonsson, professor of ethnicity, it appears that the democracy problem the whole time has been a time in Sven lindqvist's writing and the applicant. He tells about the years in China, on trips into colonial darkness, on the ' Dig where you stand”, ”the Myth of Wu Tao-tzu” and other books that have been with and the format of its time.

Sven Lindqvist die on Tuesday 14 may after a long illness. He was 87 years old.