Gripe, Maria

The writer was born on July 25, 1923 in Vaxholm, Sweden . Graduated with honors from school, then - university, where she studied philosophy; in 1946 she married the artist Harald Gripe, who later became an illustrator of her books. Maria’s first story, “In Our Small Town” ( I vår lilla stad ) was written by her for Camilla’s daughter and published in 1954. Popularity came to the writer with the publication of a trilogy about Hugo and Jozefina.

In total, she has written more than 30 books for children and youth. The main topics of the writer's work are respect for the person, the belief that there are no “extra” people in the world - “everyone should be aware of themselves as a necessary being” (quote from Schopenhauer , which became the epigraph to “Cecilia Agnes ...”); this theme is especially acute in the Elvis stories. Many Gripe’s works have mystical , “supernatural” elements (“Cecilia Agnes is a strange story”, “A dung beetle flies at dusk ...”).

The writer died on April 5, 2007 , at the age of eighty-three. Her latest book, Annas Blomma, was published in 1997 ten years before the author’s death.

Some Gripe's books (in particular, translated into Russian “Dung beetle flies at dusk ...” and “Cecilia Agnes - a strange story”) were filmed.

• 1954 - I vår lilla stad
• 1955 - När det snöade (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1956 - Kung Laban kommer (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1956 - Kvarteret Labyrinten
• 1957 - Sebastian och skuggan (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1957 - Stackars lilla Q (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1959 - Tappa inte masken
• 1960 - De små röda (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1961 - Josefin (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1962 - Hugo och Josefin (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1963 - Pappa Pellerins dotter (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1964 - Glasblåsarns barn
• 1965 - I klockornas tid (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1966 - Hugo (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1967 - Landet utanför (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1968 - Nattpappan (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1969 - Glastunneln
• 1970 - Tanten
• 1971 - Julias hus och nattpappan (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1972 - Elvis Karlsson (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1973 - Elvis, Elvis (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1974 - Den gröna kappan
• 1974 - Ellen, dellen
• 1976 - Den riktiga Elvis (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1977 - Att vara Elvis (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1978 - Tordyveln flyger i skymningen
• 1979 - Bara Elvis (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1981 - Agnes Cecilia - en sällsam historia
• 1982 - Skuggan över stenbänken
• 1984 - ... och de vita skuggorna i skogen
• 1985 - Godispåsen (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1986 - Skuggornas barn
• 1986 - Boken om Hugo och Josefin (tillsammans med Harald Gripe)
• 1988 - Skugg-gömman
• 1989 - Hjärtat som ingen ville ha (tillsammans med Hans Arnold)
• 1991 - Tre trappor upp med hiss
• 1992 - Eget rum
• 1994 - Egna världar
• 1997 - Annas blomma

Published in Russian

• Elvis Karlsson (1976) / Elvis Karlsson (1972)
• Elvis! Elvis! Just Elvis (1985) / Elvis, Elvis (1973)
• A dung beetle flies at dusk ... (2004) / Tordyveln flyger i skymningen (1978)
• Cecilia Agnes - a strange story (2005) / Agnes Cecilia - en sallsam historia (1981)
• A shadow on a stone bench (2005) / Skuggan over stenbanken (1982)
• ... And white shadows in the forest (2005) / ... och de vita skuggorna i skogen (1984)
• Shadow Cache (2004) / Skugg-gomman (1988)
• Children of the Shadows (2005) / Skuggornas barn (1986)
• Glassblower Children (2005) / Glasblasarns Barn (1964)