Marita Lindquist

Marita Elisabeth Lindquist (née Gustafson; 10 November 1918 – 7 June 2016) was a Finnish author of many children's books.

Biography Born in Helsinki, she was of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. Her parents were businessman Gösta Henry Wilhelm Gustafson and Ingrid Gertrud Tihleman. In addition, she had written song lyrics, illustrated books, including some of her early works which she published under her maiden name, Gustafson, and worked as a translator, translating the literary history articles for the 1970 book Ungdomsboken i Finland förr och nu, materials writer, producer, editor, and journalist. She was the editor of the children's section at Hufvudstadsbladet from 1953 to 1977.

Lindquist graduated from high school in 1937 from Nya svenska samskolan and then studied languages. Lindquist was active in several literary organisations, serving as secretary for the Swedish Youth Author's Association in Finland and for Finland's Youth Authors from 1952 to 1964. From 1978, she was a board member of the Finnish Institute for Children's Literature. She was the author of hundreds of song texts and poems. Her repertoire included about forty children's books (usually the characters are fictional but for instance in Santtu Ellinoora series they were inspired by her grandchildren).

At the time of her death, Lindquist was already a widow and had two daughters – Marika and Anki, a folk singer (1945–2007). She was married to Alvar Axel Lindquist from 1940 until his death in 1970. She has received many awards (see Awards section), including National Literature Prize (1973, 1975) and Topelius Award (1982). Her books have been translated into many foreign languages.