FOGELSTRÖM, PER ANDERS

(1917-)

A Swedish novelist, Fogelström was born and raised in Stockholm, a city that he has memorialized in a large number of novels. His first important novel, however, wasSommaren med Monika(1951; The Summer with Monica), which became well known because it had the same title as the film by Ingmar Bergman, for which Fogelstrom wrote the screenplay. Fogelstrom's first Stockholm novels were in a series consisting of five volumes that depict the city's transition from a preindustrial town to a modern metropolis:Mina drommars stad(1960; City of My Dreams),Barn av sin stad(1962; Children of Their City),Minns du den stad(1964; Do You Remember the City),Ien forvandlad stad(1966; In a Transformed City), andStad i varlden(1968; City in the World).

Fogelstrom portrays his own generation in a series of novels with the collective titleK mr ter(Comrades), consisting of the volumesUpptackarna(1972; The Explorers),Revoltorerna(1973; The Rebels),Erovrarna(1975; The Conquerors), andBesittarna(1977; The Possessors). Stockholm during the reign of KingGustav IIIand the decades thereafter is depicted in a trilogy consisting ofVävarnas barn(1981; Children of the Weavers),Krigens barn(1985; Children of the Wars), andVita bergens barn(1987; Children of the White Mountains District). Fogelstrom used his own family history as material inKomikern: Roman om en teaterfamilj(1989; The Comedian: A Novel about a Theatrical Family), while Stockholm again serves as the background for his fictional narrativeModrar och sonar(1991; Mothers and Sons).