Nordstjernan

A Swedish author and historian, Moberg is best known for his series of four novels, “The Emigrants”. Born in Småland of peasant and soldier stock, Moberg underwent only limited schooling for six years but was an avid reader as a child. He studied at the Folk Academy in Grimslöv, and later on at a private school in Katrineholm. Between his studies Moberg worked as a farm and forest laborer, and in 1916 he almost emigrated to the U.S., following an uncle and aunt; he decided to stay in Sweden with his parents.
Moberg began his career as a newspaper editor in 1919, and his novel “Raskens” appeared in 1927. He also wrote several historical novels set in Småland, such as “Mans kvinna” and “Brudarnas källa”.
Moberg's most famous work is “The Emigrants”, which he began writing after moving to Carmel, CA, after having done research in and around Minnesota. In Saint Paul, he had found the diaries of Swedish emigrant Andrew Peterson, and he used these as a source for his writing. “The Emigrants" describes one Swedish family’s migration from Småland to Minnesota in the mid 19th century, a destiny shared by almost one million people, including several of Moberg’s own relatives. All four novels have been translated into English: “The Emigrants”, “Unto a Good Land”, “The Settlers” and “The Last Letter Home”.
Recurrent themes in Moberg’s writing include the aspiration to making one’s way in the world, to get away from the confinement of the countryside, to become somebody. This is often combined with the misgivings that follow. Moberg wrote many plays, often for the new “radio theater”, in which he also used current social problems. He was a debater, very critical of the monarchy, and often expressed an anti-royalist point of view in his works.
Moberg lived his last years with depression and eventually committed suicide by drowning himself in a lake outside his house on August 8, 1973.

Icke värderade han friheten lägre därför att de fega kunde vara den förutan.
(“Rid inatt”, 1941)

Vilhelm Moberg (1898-1973)