Henning Mankell

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Lore & Background

Mankell was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1948. His father Ivar was a lawyer who divorced his mother when Mankell was one year old. He and an older sister lived with his father for most of their childhood, first in Sveg, Härjedalen in northern Sweden, where Mankell's father was a district judge. In the biography on Mankell's website, he describes this time when they lived in a flat above the court as one of the happiest in his life. In Sveg, a museum was built in his honour during his lifetime. When Mankell was thirteen, the family moved to Borås, Västergötland. After three years he dropped out of school and went to Paris when he was 16. Shortly afterwards he joined the merchant marine, working on a cargo ship and he 'loved the ship's decent hard-working community'. In 1966, he returned to Paris to become a writer. He took part in the student uprising of 1968. He later returned to work as a stagehand in Stockholm. At the age of 20, he had already started as author at the National Swedish Touring Theatre in Stockholm. His first play, The Amusement Park, dealt with Swedish colonialism in South America. In 1973, he published The Stone Blaster, a novel about the Swedish labour movement. He used the proceeds from the novel to travel to Guinea-Bissau. Africa would later become a second home to him, and he spent a big part of his life there. When his success as a writer made it possible, he founded and ran a theatre in Mozambique. From 1991 to 2013, Mankell wrote the books which made him famous worldwide, the Kurt Wallander mystery novels. There were ten books in the series. They were translated into many languages and sold millions of copies worldwide. The series gave Mankell the freedom and wherewithal to pursue other projects which interested him. After living in Zambia and other African countries, Mankell was invited from 1986 onward to become the artistic director of Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique. He subsequently spent extended periods in Maputo working with the theatre and as a writer. He built his own publishing house, Leopard Förlag, in order to support young talented writers from Africa and Sweden. On 12 June 2008, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of St Andrews in Scotland 'in recognition of his major contribution to literature and to the practical exercise of conscience'. Around 2008, Mankell developed two original stories for the German police series Tatort. In 2010, Mankell was set to work on a screenplay for Sveriges Television about his father-in-law, movie and theatre director Ingmar Bergman. At the time of his death, Mankell had written over 40 novels that had sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Mankell was married four times and had four sons, Thomas, Marius, Morten and Jon, by different relationships. In 1998 he married Eva Bergman, daughter of film director Ingmar Bergman. They remained married until his death in 2015. In January 2014, Mankell announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and throat cancer. In May 2014, he reported that treatments had worked well and he was getting better. He wrote a series of articles inspired by his wife Eva, describing his situation. Three weeks before his death he wrote about what happens to people's identity when they are stricken by a serious illness. His last post was published posthumously 6 October. On 5 October 2015, Mankell died at the age of 67, almost two years after having been diagnosed.

Reader's Guide

Henning Mankell's significance lies in his dual legacy as a globally popular crime writer and a committed left-wing activist. The Kurt Wallander series, set in Ystad, Sweden, not only captivated readers with its tense, character-driven mysteries but also served as a vehicle for Mankell's social commentary on issues like inequality and the decline of Swedish society. His activism extended beyond his books: he participated in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, called for global sanctions against Israel, and donated millions to charities in Africa, including a children's village in Mozambique. He also founded a publishing house to support young African and Swedish writers. His work consistently highlighted social injustices, both in Sweden and abroad, and his time in Africa deeply influenced his writing and philanthropy. Mankell's legacy endures through his 40-plus novels, which have sold over 40 million copies worldwide, and through his practical exercise of conscience in supporting humanitarian causes.

Did You Know?

• Mankell's grandfather, also named Henning Mankell, lived from 1868 to 1930 and was a composer.
• In Sveg, a museum was built in his honour during his lifetime.
• Mankell used the proceeds from his 1973 novel The Stone Blaster to travel to Guinea-Bissau.
• On 12 June 2008, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
• Mankell donated 15 million Swedish crowns (about 1.5 million euros) to SOS Children's Villages for a children's village in Chimoio in western Mozambique.

The Wallander Novels and a Broader Literary Life

Between 1991 and 2013, Mankell crafted the ten-book Kurt Wallander series that would cement his global reputation. Set in the small southern Swedish town of Ystad, the novels follow a weary detective and his small squad as they race against time to solve murders before a killer strikes again. What distinguishes the series is the interior life Mankell gives his protagonist: Wallander frets over his daughter, his failing health, his loneliness, and the broader injustices he perceives in Swedish society, all while working through the night in a charged, tense atmosphere. The books were translated into numerous languages and sold millions of copies, and by the time of his death Mankell had published more than forty novels with over forty million copies in circulation worldwide. Beyond the detective fiction, his literary range stretched to plays—his earliest, The Amusement Park, examined Swedish colonialism in South America—and to screenwriting, including two episodes for the German police series Tatort and a planned four-part television drama about Ingmar Bergman for Swedish public broadcasting.

A Conscience in Action: Political Activism

Mankell never separated his craft from his politics. A committed left-wing thinker, he took part in the 1968 student uprisings in Paris, protesting the Vietnam War, the Portuguese colonial conflict, and South African apartheid. In the 1970s he lived in Norway with a woman affiliated with the Maoist Workers' Communist Party and took an active role in their activities, though he never formally joined the party. His novels and plays consistently foregrounded social inequality and injustice, both within Sweden and on a global scale. His most visible act of political commitment came in 2010, when he boarded the MV Mavi Marmara as part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. He was below deck when Israeli commandos stormed the ship in international waters and nine civilians were killed. The University of St Andrews recognized this blend of literary achievement and moral engagement when it conferred an honorary doctorate on him in June 2008, citing his major contribution to literature and to the practical exercise of conscience. For Mankell, writing and activism were two expressions of the same impulse.

Africa as a Second Home

Africa was not merely a subject for Mankell; it became a place he called home for much of his adult life. After using the earnings from his 1973 labour-movement novel The Stone Blaster to travel to Guinea-Bissau, he found a lasting connection to the continent. He lived in Zambia and other African nations before being invited in 1986 to serve as artistic director of Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique. There he spent extended periods directing the theatre and writing, eventually founding his own publishing house, Leopard Förlag, specifically to champion young and talented writers from both Africa and Sweden. His 1995 novel Chronicler of the Winds, also published under the title Comédie infantil, drew on African storytelling traditions and grappled with the continent's problems. Mankell also made substantial financial donations to charitable organizations linked to Africa. He divided his life between Sweden and the African countries he loved, and the influence of that dual existence runs through virtually everything he wrote.

Personal Life, Illness, and the Final Writings

Mankell's personal life was marked by both deep connection and upheaval. Born in Stockholm in 1948, he was raised by his lawyer father Ivar after the parents' separation when he was just one year old. The family lived in Sveg, a small town in northern Sweden, where his father served as a district judge; Mankell later described the flat above the court as one of the happiest periods of his childhood. He went on to marry four times and father four sons—Thomas, Marius, Morten, and Jon—through different relationships. In 1998 he married Eva Bergman, daughter of the filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, and they remained together until his death. In January 2014 he was diagnosed with both lung and throat cancer, though by May he reported that treatments were working. Over the following months he wrote a series of reflective articles, inspired by Eva, about diagnosis, the weight of waiting, and the importance of cancer research after his first chemotherapy at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Three weeks before he died, he turned his attention to how a serious illness reshapes a person's sense of identity. His very last post was published posthumously on 6 October 2015, the day after his passing at the age of sixty-seven.