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Vilhelm Moberg

ヴィルヘルム・モーベルク

Viruherumu Mōberuku

Aliases: Karl Artur Vilhelm Moberg
Pen Names: Ville i Momåla（Pen name）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1898-08-20 （Moshultamåla, Sweden）
Died
1973-08-08 （Väddö, Sweden） age 74
Nationality
Swedish
Languages
Swedish
Residence History
Moshultamåla, Sweden → Grimslöv, Sweden → Katrineholm, Sweden → Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, USA → Växjö, Sweden

Career

Occupations
journalist, author, playwright, historian, debater
Active Years
1917-1973
Affiliations
Swedish Emigrant Institute
Memberships
Social Democrats club
Influenced
Ingmar Bergman

Education

Kronoberg County Folk High School
General
Period: 1916-1917
Year of Graduation: 1917
Country: Sweden
Grimslöv
Katrineholms Praktiska Skola
Practical
Period: 1917-1918
Year of Graduation: 1918
Country: Sweden
Private school

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Emigrants

1949 Historical novel

Story of a Swedish family's emigration to the US in the 19th century.

EmigrationPovertyAmerican Dream
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Emigrants / Jan Troell (1971)
  • [Film] The New Land / Jan Troell (1972)
  • [Film] The Emigrants (2021)
  • [Musical] Kristina från Duvemåla (1995)
Translations
  • English translation available

Raskens

1927 Novel

Story of a soldier.

Military life

Ride This Night

1941 Historical novel

17th-century rebellion in Småland.

RebellionCriticism of Hitler regime

Bibliography

  • The Emigrants series (4 vols.), others

Adaptations

  • The Emigrants (1971)

Translations of Works

  • Numerous English translations

Style & Themes

Literary Style
RealismSocial criticism
Recurring Motifs
Life of the dispossessedImmigrant experienceAnti-authority

Health

  • Depression
    晩年
    Led to suicide
  • Writer's block
    晩年
    Unable to write
  • Spanish flu
    1918
    Sick for half a year

Legacy

Major Swedish author, iconic in emigration literature.

Museums

  • Moberg Room Swedish Emigrant Institute, Växjö

Archives

  • Swedish Emigrant Institute

In Popular Culture

  • Film and musical adaptations of The Emigrants

Quotes

  • The time is twenty past seven; I go to seek in the sea the eternal sleep. Forgive me, I could not endure.
    Source: Suicide note (1973)

Trivia

  • Daughter Åsa Moberg is a journalist.
  • Committed suicide by drowning.