Helena Henschen
WINNER
WINNER
Biography
Helena Henschen (b. 1940 – † 2011) was born and raised in Stockholm. She has an artistic background and has worked as a graphic designer. Henschen has both written and illustrated children’s books and she was one of the founders of the famous Swedish design company Mah-Jong.
Nominated book : I skuggan av ett brott (The Shadow of a Crime)
Summary
The von Sydow murders received renewed attention in Sweden in 2004 as a result of the publication of the book I skuggan av ett brott by Helena Henschen, whose mother was the younger sister of Fredrik von Sydow. The book is a mixture of fact and fiction, and constitutes an attempt to understand both the taboo that arose within the family in relation to the crime, and also why Fredrik von Sydow committed the murders.
Fredrik von Sydow came from an upper-class family in Stockholm and studied Law at Uppsala University. On March 7, 1932, his father Hjalmar von Sydow – who was a conservative Member of Parliament and the managing director and chairman of the Swedish Employers’ Federation – and two maids employed in the household were found dead in the family residence in Stockholm, all bludgeoned to death with an iron bar.
Even though the police soon came to suspect the son, Fredrik, it took a few hours before they were able to locate him. Fredrik von Sydow had taken a taxi with his wife Ingun to Uppsala where they entered the restaurant of Hotel Gillet and ordered champagne, caviar and oysters. When the police eventually arrived at the restaurant, Fredrik von Sydow shot and killed his wife and himself.
Excerpts
Related publications
EUPL Retrospective Box
Various authors