Geboren in Katrineholm. and grew up in a middle-class suburb of Stockholm. He published his first texts at the age of 15. Jersild’s first collection of short stories, RÄKNELÄRÄ, appeared in 1960. In the same year he married Ulla Flyxe; they had two sons. Jersild entered the Karolinska Institute in 1955, receiving his Licentiate degree in 1962. In his studies he specialized in social medicine and psychiatry. From 1963 to 1966 he was a staff member of the Institute of Social Medicne in Stockholm. He then worked at the Stockholm Civil Service Welfare Department and from 1974 to 1978 as a social psychiatrist at the Huddinge Hospital. He has also been an assistant professor of social and preventive medicine and a medical adviser to the National Government Administration Board. These experiences gave the author insight into the world of bureaucratic institutions, which he later satirized in his books. From 1977 Jersild devoted himself entirely to writing. He has received several literature prizes, including Swedish Society for Promotion of Literature grand prize in 1981 and De Nio prize in 1998. Jersild’s columns have been published in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Co-Auteur: Mati Lepp