Waldemar Hammenhög

Born in Stockholm in 1902 as Waldemar Anderson,[4] he was the son of foreman Per Anderson and his wife Lydia Källgren.[4] After graduating from the Högre realläroverket å Östermalm high school in Stockholm in 1919,[4] Hammenhög worked as an office boy,[4] and later office clerk until 1930.[1] He left his job as a clerk after he was awarded first-prize in a novel competition organized by the Stockholm-based publishing house Natur & Kultur with his debut novel Esther och Albert.[1] He submitted the text under the pseudonym "Hammenhög", which became his official name in 1931.[5]

Among Hammenhög's writing highlights is the humorous novel Petterson & Bendel (1931), adapted to screen in 1933 starring Adolf Jahr as Pettersson; and as P&B (1983) starring Stellan Skarsgård as Petterson and Allan Edwall as Bendel. Esther och Alberts äktenskap (1936) was also a success, adapted to screen as Ung man söker sällskap (1954), starring Ulf Palme and Gaby Stenberg.[6]

In the late 1940s, Hammenhög's writing turned from realistic humor towards moral issues as he was struggling with personal alcoholism.[3] His writing reached a turning point with Torken (1951),[7] a novel about the failure of traditional alcoholic care. The novel is sometimes regarded as Hammenhög's second breakthrough as a novelist.[2] A year later, Hammenhög published Omne animal (1952), a novel which implied that Hammenhög was heading toward Roman Catholicism. Most novels that followed often focused on religious and moral issues.[2]

Hammenhög's early commercial success as a productive novelist[5] led to an extravagant lifestyle, and severe alcoholism.[3] For years, alcoholic problems influenced his writing which was largely devastated by superficiality and haste.[8] Later in life, Hammenhög became a "sober alcoholic".[3] In that capacity, he frequently spoke in public about issues related to his alcoholism.[3][8]

Writing in newspapers, his signature was W H-g.[1][4] Hammenhög died in Stockholm in 1972 at the age of 70.[1] He is buried at the Roman Catholic Cemetery, a part of the Norra begravningsplatsen Cemetery in Solna Municipality north of Stockholm.[9]

• 1930 – Esther och Albert (novel)
• 1931 – Pettersson & Bendel (novel)
• 1934 – Lindbergs (novel)
• 1935 – Svenske Apollo (novel)
• 1936 – Hustru eller lakej (novel)
• 1936 – Esthers och Alberts äktenskap (novel)
• 1937 – Anna Sevardt (novel)
• 1938 – Uppvaktningen och andra noveller
• 1938 – Det är bara ovanan, damen (novel)
• 1939 – Fallet Antonsson (detective novel)
• 1939 – Fallet Sehling (detective novel)
• 1939 – Löpande band (novel)
• 1940 – Kärälskeliga vänner (novel)
• 1941 – Svar med amatörfoto (novel)
• 1942 – Edens lustgård (short stories)
• 1942 – Erik, skogsluffaren (Sports book for youths)
• 1942 – Det var en gång en musiker (novel)
• 1943 – Nils, skolungdomsmästaren (Sports book for youths)
• 1944 – Pettersson & Bendels nya affärer (novel)
• 1944 – Olle, brottaren (Sports book for youths)
• 1945 – Sven, skidlöparen (Sports book for youths)
• 1946 – Hur mycket skall du ha (novel)
• 1947 – Halvbröderna (novel)
• 1949 – Livia (novel)
• 1950 – Sol och vår. Dokumentariska närbilder. (together with Bertel Janson)
• 1950 – Pettersson och Bendel på Sicilien (novel)
• 1951 – Torken (novel)
• 1952 – Omne Animal (novel)
• 1953 – I en fransk småstad
• 1953 – Lycklig resa (novel)
• 1954 – I en svensk sovstad
• 1955 – Älsken varandra (novel)
• Den eviga kärleken:
• 1957 – Inledningen till ett drama
• 1958 – Dramat
• Berättelsen om Petter Larsson:
• 1959 – Regeringsgatan
• 1960 – Helga Lekamens gränd
• 1961 – Ensittarvägen
• 1962 – Det är ingen mark att bygga på, min älskade
• 1962 – Berättelsen om Pisinus
• 1962 – I en sydengelsk by
• 1966 – Moderna Häxprocesser
• 1969 – Gustav Tjäder (novel)
• 1970 – Lallo (novel)
• 1971 – Herr Anderson med ett s (novel)