Gösta Knutsson

He was born in a well-off family with two older sisters. His father was a wholesaler. During his childhood he spent the summers on a farm outside Tranås, Småland. One summer, 1923, he bought a cat without tail, something which later inspired him to write his novels for children, 'Pelle Svanslös'. He was never interested in making pranks like other small boys, but preferred to read, something his sister taught him at the age of 4. After conscription he began university studies in Uppsala and studied greek, latin and ancient cultures. But he spent the most of his time at the Stockholm Fraternity, which in time made him president of the Student's League as well as editor of the student's newspaper. He became the Uppsala correspondent for Sveriges Radio, Sweden's state-ruled radio corporation. As a radio journalist he introduced the quiz show to Sweden. He was also making a radio program for children and introduced Peter No-Tail, the cat with no tail. It became an immediate success the first novel was published 1939. He totally wrote 12 novels about this cat. The novels made him rich and he and his wife could live in a ten-room-house in Uppsala, as well as a summer-house in Denmark.