AKA Olof Edvin Verner Eyvind Johnson

Born: 29-Jul-1900
Birthplace: Svartbjörnsbyn, Sweden
Died: 25-Aug-1976
Location of death: Stockholm, Sweden
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Skogskyrkogården, Stockholm, Sweden

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Author

Nationality: Sweden
Executive summary: Rain at Dawn

Eyvind Johnson's childhood near the Arctic Circle was harsh, with long days of labor and little formal schooling. His father had a mental breakdown when Johnson was an infant, and he was raised by foster parents. At 13 he left his foster home to make his way, working as a brickmaker, a sawmill worker, a movie theater usher, a cement maker, a train engine cleaner, a hay bailer, and a dishwasher in a hotel, among other jobs. Eventually he was able to earn a living as a newspaper reporter, and began writing his famous "working class" novels, including Bobinack, wherein modern capitalism is the antagonist, and Regn i Gryningen (Rain at Dawn), which is set in the drudge world of office employment. His four-volume novel Romanen om Olof (The Novel of Olof), about a young boy entering the work force, was filmed in 1966 as Här Har du Ditt Liv and released in America as Here's Your Life.

By his 30s Johnson was an established and successful writer, telling stories which can be broadly generalized as championing individuals against the machinery of society, employment, and capitalism. During World War II he was active in Sweden's anti-Nazi underground, and he later fictionalized these experiences in his three-volume Krilonromanen (The Novel of Krilon). He later wrote historical novels, most notably Molnen över Metapontion (The Clouds over Metapontion), a story set in four separate timelines from before Christ to the German concentration camps. He also translated Albert Camus, Anatole France, and Jean-Paul Sartre into Swedish. Johnson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974, sharing the honor with Harry Martinson.

Father: Olof Petter Jonsson (stonecutter)
Mother: Cevia Gustafsdotter
Brother: Sellfrid
Sister: Edit
Brother: Helmer
Brother: Tore
Father: Anders Johan Rost (stonecutter, foster father)
Wife: Aase Christofersen (m. 1927, d., one child)
Son: Tore (b. 1928)
Wife: Cilla Frankenhaeuser
Daughter: Maria (b. 1944)
Son: Anders (b. 1948)

    Nobel Prize for Literature 1974 (with Harry Martinson)

Official Website:
http://www.eyvindjohnson.org/

Author of books:
De Fyra Främlingarna (The Four Strangers) (1924)
Timans och Rättfärdigheten (Timans and Righteousness) (1925)
Stad i Mörker (Town in Darkness) (1927)
Stad i Ljus (Town in Light) (1928)
Minnas (Remembering) (1928)
Kommentar Till ett Stjärnfall (Commentary on a Falling Star) (1929)
Avsked till Hamlet (Farewell to Hamlet) (1930)
Natten är Här (Night is Here) (1932)
Bobinack (1932)
Regn i Gryningen (Rain at Dawn) (1933)
Romanen om Olof (The Novel of Olof) (1937, four volumes)
Nattövning (Night Manoeuvre) (1938)
Den Trygga Världen (The Safe World) (1940)
Soldatens Återkomst (The Return of the Soldier) (1940)
Krilonromanen (The Novel of Krilon) (1943, three volumes)
Strändernas Svall (Return to Ithaca: The Odyssey Retold as a Modern Novel) (1946)
Dagbok från Schweiz (Swiss Diary) (1949)
Drömmar om Rosor och Eld (Dreams of Roses and Fire) (1949)
Lägg Undan Solen (Put Away the Sun) (1951)
Romantisk Berättelse (A Romantic Story) (1953)
Tidens Gång (The Course of Time) (1955)
Vinterresa i Norrbotten (A Winter Journey in Norrbotten) (1955)
Molnen över Metapontion (The Clouds over Metapontion) (1957)
Vägar över Metaponto: En Resedagbok (Roads by Metaponto: A Travel Diary) (1959)
Hans Nådes Tid (The Days of His Grace) (1960)
Spår Förbi Kolonos: En Berättelse (Traces Past Colonus: A Story) (1961)
Livsdagen Lång (Life's Long Day) (1964)
Stunder, Vågor, Anteckningar, Berättelser (Moments, Waves, Notes, Stories) (1965)
Favel Ensam (Favel Alone) (1968)
Resa i Hösten 1921 (Journey in the Autumn of 1921) (1973)
Några Steg Mot Tystnaden (Some Steps Towards Silence) (1973)

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