Anna Olsson

Anna Olsson (19 August 1866 in Värmland, Sweden – 15 February 1946 in Rock Island, Illinois) was a Swedish-American author.

Life Anna Olsson was the first daughter and oldest surviving child of Olof and Anna Lisa Olsson. In 1869, a three-year-old Olsson and her parents emigrated from Värmland, Sweden. They settled in Lindsborg, Kansas, where Olof Olsson served as pastor. She would later use many experiences from her childhood on the prairie in her publications. Olsson's father accepted a professorship at Augustana College and Theological Seminary in 1877, and the family moved to Rock Island, Illinois. Olsson returned to Lindsborg to attend Bethany Academy in 1882 and 1883.

In the fall of 1883, Olsson reunited with her family in Rock Island and enrolled at Augustana College. She studied German language and literature, and was interested in philosophy. She earned her B.A. in 1888, and was only the second women to graduate from the college. Olof Olsson and his children traveled abroad in Europe from 1889 to 1890. They spent time in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.

Career Anna Olsson split her career between teaching and writing. She returned to Lindsborg, Kansas in 1888 to teach in the Children's Department at Bethany Academy. En prärieunges funderingar, the book she is best known for, is a semi-autobiographical work about her family's immigration to the United States and their years living on the Kansas prairie. Olsson published in a number of Swedish-American periodicals, including Ungdomsvännen, Fosterlandel, Prairieblomman, Julrunan, and Julgranan.

Later editions

Olsson's works were republished several times in Sweden and the United States. Prärieungen: Anna Olssons barndomsminnen, an abbreviated version of En prärieunges funderingar, was published by Joan Sandin in 1984 (Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren, ). Martha Winblad and Elizabeth Jaderborg also translated and edited En prärieunges funderingar as Anna Olsson: "A child of the prairie" in 1978 (Lindsborg: Jaderborg).