# Margareta Magnusson
**Margareta Magnusson** (31 December 1934 – 12 March 2026) was a Swedish artist and author whose debut book, *Döstädning. Ingen sorglig historia*, published in English as *The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning*, turned the Swedish practice of döstädning, or "death cleaning", into an international publishing phenomenon.[1](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/16/margareta-magnusson-swedish-death-cleaning-author-dies-age-92) She was in her eighties when the book appeared, and she spent her last years as a bestselling author, television personality, and writer on aging.[3](https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/forfattare/46662/margareta-magnusson/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 31 December 1934, Gothenburg, Sweden; 12 March 2026, aged 91[4](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16917867.Margareta_Magnusson) • [1](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod) |
| Training | Artist and illustrator, trained at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm[5](https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/swedish-death-cleaning-margareta-magnusson-dostadning-10585344/) |
| Debut | *Döstädning. Ingen sorglig historia* (2017), written in her eighties[3](https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/forfattare/46662/margareta-magnusson/) |
| Reach | Translated into 31 languages according to her own site; Swedish media reported editions in 32 countries[6](https://www.margaretamagnusson.com/books/swedish-death-cleaning) • [1](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod) |
| Second book | *The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly: Life Wisdom from Someone Who Will (Probably) Die Before You* (2022)[7](https://www.aarp.org/family-relationships/swedish-death-cleaning/) |
| Television | *The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning*, an 8-episode Peacock reality series produced by Scout Productions and Amy Poehler's Paper Kite Productions[6](https://www.margaretamagnusson.com/books/swedish-death-cleaning) |
| Family | Mother of five; her daughter, the journalist Jane Magnusson, suggested the idea for the first book[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/12/22/swedish-art-aging-exuberantly-margareta-magnusson-review/) • [1](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod) |
## Life and art career
Magnusson was born in [Gothenburg](https://www.edgepedia.org/gothenburg) on [New Year's Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-years-eve).[4](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16917867.Margareta_Magnusson) After studying art and illustration at Stockholm's Beckmans College of Design, she devoted the greater part of her life to creating art and did not publish a book until she was in her eighties.[5](https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/swedish-death-cleaning-margareta-magnusson-dostadning-10585344/) Her graphic works were exhibited in galleries internationally, as far afield as Singapore and Hong Kong.[3](https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/forfattare/46662/margareta-magnusson/) • [9](https://canongate.co.uk/files/CanongateSpring2026.pdf)
Much of her adult life was spent abroad. She and her husband, a Swede born in Japan, made homes in Annapolis, Singapore, and Hong Kong as his work moved the family, and she later lived in an apartment in the [Södermalm](https://www.edgepedia.org/sodermalm) neighborhood of Stockholm.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/12/22/swedish-art-aging-exuberantly-margareta-magnusson-review/) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/12/how-death-got-cool-swedish-death-cleaning) Her husband died in his mid-seventies, and sorting through the family home after his death gave her the practical experience behind her first book.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/12/how-death-got-cool-swedish-death-cleaning) • [5](https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/swedish-death-cleaning-margareta-magnusson-dostadning-10585344/)
## Döstädning and the first book
Döstädning combines the Swedish words *dö* ("death") and *städning* ("cleaning"). It refers to the custom, in one's later years, of going through belongings and disposing of them so that relatives will not have to shoulder that task once one has died.[6](https://www.margaretamagnusson.com/books/swedish-death-cleaning) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/16/margareta-magnusson-swedish-death-cleaning-author-dies-age-92) Magnusson framed it as an act of consideration for others rather than of self-discovery: where the Japanese organizing consultant [Marie Kondo](https://www.edgepedia.org/marie-kondo) asked whether an object "sparks joy," Magnusson asked readers who would have to deal with a lifetime of accumulated belongings after they were gone.[5](https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/swedish-death-cleaning-margareta-magnusson-dostadning-10585344/) "Death cleaning is not a sad thing," she told the British newspaper the i; "I want it to be joyful and interesting."[5](https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/swedish-death-cleaning-margareta-magnusson-dostadning-10585344/)
**The book's path to publication was unusually fast.** Her literary agent, Susanna Lea, sent the proposal out and a German editor made an offer after four hours; days later it sold to a Swedish publisher, and at the 2016 [Frankfurt](https://www.edgepedia.org/frankfurt) book fair Lea sold rights to the UK, US, and Australia.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/12/how-death-got-cool-swedish-death-cleaning) The book drew wide attention at the fair and became an international bestseller.[3](https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/forfattare/46662/margareta-magnusson/) Its reach is reported with some variation: Magnusson's own site says it was translated into 31 languages, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported editions in 32 countries, and her Swedish publisher, Albert Bonniers Förlag, says it was published in a little over twenty countries.[6](https://www.margaretamagnusson.com/books/swedish-death-cleaning) • [1](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod) • [3](https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/forfattare/46662/margareta-magnusson/)
The book itself is a short guide in 38 chapters, part practical manual and part reflection on accepting death, delivered in what reviewers described as a blunt, unsentimental, and humorous voice.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/12/how-death-got-cool-swedish-death-cleaning) Magnusson advised starting with large items and working toward small ones, leaving photographs until last, being ruthless about clothes and realistic about books, and keeping a small, clearly labeled box of private mementos with a note instructing the family to throw it away unopened.[5](https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/swedish-death-cleaning-margareta-magnusson-dostadning-10585344/) She suggested the process can begin in one's 40s or 50s, well before old age.[7](https://www.aarp.org/family-relationships/swedish-death-cleaning/) The *New York Times* critic Dwight Garner called it "a fond and wise little book," and it became a New York Times bestseller.[6](https://www.margaretamagnusson.com/books/swedish-death-cleaning)
## Later books and television
Her second book, *The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly: Life Wisdom from Someone Who Will (Probably) Die Before You*, appeared in 2022 in the United States; a Guardian obituary dates the British edition, *The Swedish Art of Ageing Well*, to 2023, when she was 89.[7](https://www.aarp.org/family-relationships/swedish-death-cleaning/) • [11](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/mar/19/margareta-magnusson-obituary) Written during the early coronavirus pandemic, it mixes memoir with advice on living within one's means, enjoying the moment, and leaving the world better than one found it.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/12/22/swedish-art-aging-exuberantly-margareta-magnusson-review/) In Swedish it appeared as *Levnadsråd från någon som troligtvis kommer dö före dig*, the last book she published with Albert Bonniers Förlag.[3](https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/forfattare/46662/margareta-magnusson/)
The first book was adapted into an American reality television series, *The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning*, hosted by comedian [Amy Poehler](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-poehler) and produced by Scout Productions and Poehler's Paper Kite Productions for Peacock, in eight episodes.[6](https://www.margaretamagnusson.com/books/swedish-death-cleaning) • [7](https://www.aarp.org/family-relationships/swedish-death-cleaning/) In the series, a psychologist, an organizer, and a designer help people nearing the end of their lives sort and organize their possessions.[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2023-06-19/swedish-death-cleaning-isnt-about-being-neat-and-tidy-its-about-having-a-purpose)
At the time of her death Magnusson was completing a third book, *Dödstädning från andra sidan* ("Death cleaning from the other side").[1](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod) Her daughter Jane Magnusson said that visitors to her mother's home always left with an object, because any compliment on a cushion meant it was given away, and that by the end "she had nothing in the attic and nothing in the basement."[1](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod)
## References
1. [Författaren Margareta Magnusson är död, SVT Nyheter (12 March 2026)](https://www.svt.se/kultur/forfattaren-margareta-magnusson-ar-dod)
2. [Margareta Magnusson, Swedish 'death cleaning' author, dies age 92, The Guardian (16 March 2026)](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/16/margareta-magnusson-swedish-death-cleaning-author-dies-age-92)
3. [Margareta Magnusson, Albert Bonniers Förlag author page](https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/forfattare/46662/margareta-magnusson/)
4. [Margareta Magnusson, Goodreads author page](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16917867.Margareta_Magnusson)
5. [What is Swedish death cleaning? Margareta Magnusson, who taught the world to tidy up before signing off, dies at 92, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/swedish-death-cleaning-margareta-magnusson-dostadning-10585344/)
6. [The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, margaretamagnusson.com](https://www.margaretamagnusson.com/books/swedish-death-cleaning)
7. [Swedish Death Cleaning Makes a Comeback, AARP](https://www.aarp.org/family-relationships/swedish-death-cleaning/)
8. [Review of 'The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly' by Margareta Magnusson, The Washington Post (22 December 2022)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/12/22/swedish-art-aging-exuberantly-margareta-magnusson-review/)
9. [The Swedish Art of Ageing Well, Canongate catalogue](https://canongate.co.uk/files/CanongateSpring2026.pdf)
10. [How death got cool, The Guardian (12 January 2018)](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/12/how-death-got-cool-swedish-death-cleaning)
11. [Margareta Magnusson obituary, The Guardian (19 March 2026)](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/mar/19/margareta-magnusson-obituary)
12. ['Swedish Death Cleaning' finds the purpose behind your stuff, Los Angeles Times (19 June 2023)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2023-06-19/swedish-death-cleaning-isnt-about-being-neat-and-tidy-its-about-having-a-purpose)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Visual arts and design › Painters › Post-1945 and contemporary painters › Figurative and contemporary painters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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