Henning Mankell, one of Sweden's most famous crime writers, has died. Mankell was born in Stockholm in 1948. In his lifetime he wrote some 40 novels and plays, including a dozen books with fictional detective Kurt Wallander, translated into 40 languages and sold around the world. After an 18-month battle with cancer the author died at age 67 in Gothenburg on October 5, 2015.

"Henning Mankell was one of the great Swedish writers, loved by readers here at home and around the world," said his publishers. His books about Wallander, the detective in the southern Swedish town of Ystad, have been turned into television series in Swedish as well as English. Mankell also wrote numerous plays and children's books, and in 1996 he was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Prize for excellence in children's writing.

In recent years, Mankell divided his time between Sweden and Africa, active in critical social issues in Africa and directing at various theaters. He was the artistic director of a theater in Maputo, Mozambique. He founded Leopard Publishing House, where his later books
were published, in 2001 with his colleague and friend of 40 years, Dan Israel.

Israel said on Monday that Sweden had lost "one of its greatest Swedish authors" of all time. "(Mankell's) work was so infinitely greater than just being a crime writer," he said. "He wrote plays, debate books, everything. He was always driven by the same burning passion to give people the tools to understand, first and foremost, their reality."

Mankell leaves a widow Eva Bergman, 70, the daughter of Swedish cinema great Ingmar Bergman, and his son Jon.

Read here for more about Sweden through fictional characters by Mankell and other prominent contemporary Swedish writers.