Writer Henning Mankell Passed Away

World Renowned Swedish Writer Henning Mankell Passed Away early Monday. The writer who enthralled the readers with his Wallender Series Character police inspector Kurt Wallender, was suffering from Cancer and died in his sleep in the southwestern city of Goteborg, He was 67. 

Henning Mankell, last year revealed that he had cancer and wrote about the experience in his last book, Quicksand: What It Means To Be A Human Being. 

Henning Mankell was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1948.  When he was two years old the family moved to Sveg where the father worked as a court judge. The family lived in the court house in Sveg and young Henning much enjoyed listening to the grown-ups discussions on crime and punishment.

At age 16 Henning Mankell dropped out of school in order to work as a merchant seaman for two years before settling in Paris. After a year and a half in the French capital, Henning Mankell returned to Sweden and got a job as a stagehand in a Stockholm theater.

There, he wrote his first play, The Amusement Park, about Swedish colonial interests in 19th Century South America.

In 1973, Mankell released his debut novel, Bergsprängaren [The Rock Blast]. In the same year, he went to Africa for the first time. Ever since he has divided his time between Africa and Sweden and since 1986 he is the artistic leader of Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique.

In 1991, the first novel in the Wallander series, Faceless killers, was published. Since, Henning Mankell has written nine more novels in the series, including the novel Before the Frost, about Kurt Wallander’s daughter Linda. Next to the Wallander novels, Mankell has also written more than twenty novels and a dozen children’s and youth books. In addition, he is also one of Sweden’s most frequently performed dramatists.

Henning Mankell’s novels have been adapted for both tv and the screen in Sweden as well as abroad. The novels The Man From Beijing and Kennedy’s Brain were adapted and produced by the German tv-channel ARD and have been broadcasted in Germany.

The Wallander series have also been adapted for tv and the screen and Krister Henriksson, Rolf Lassgård and Kennet Branagh have all portrayed Wallander. The Swedish actor Krister Henriksson has starred in more than 25 Wallander episodes and in 2013 he is again playing the role of Wallander in The Troubled Man. 

The Swedish Wallander movies have been embraced by the English speaking audience, and when The Revenge, starring Krister Henriksson, was released in the USA the movie received a very high grade 3,5 out of 4.

The BBC’s British adaption of Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh in the title role, has rendered great success globally, acclaimed by both critics and audience. The series have won several BAFTA awards, including one for leading actor in 2010 for Kenneth Branagh.

Henning Mankell was survived by his wife Eva Bergman [The daughter of  famous film director Ingmar Bergman's second wife] and his son, Jon Mankell, a film producer.