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Bea Uusma

Mari Beatrice "Bea" Uusma, previously Uusma Schyffert (born 20 March 1966 in Lidingö, Sweden), is a Swedish author, illustrator and medical doctor.

Biography

Uusma was born and raised in Lidingö, Stockholm County. In 1999, she wrote and illustrated a children's book about the American astronaut Michael Collins titled The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins. In the mid-1990s she became interested in S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897 and began researching the fate of the expedition members. This research resulted in the book The Expedition for which she was awarded the August Prize for non-fiction in 2013. In 2025, The Expedition's freestanding continuation, Kvitøya, also received the August Prize for non-fiction. She thereby became the first author in the non-fiction category to be awarded the prize twice.

After working as an illustrator for several years, Uusma studied medicine and graduated as a physician from Karolinska Institutet in 2012. She works as a medical doctor at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.

Personal life

She was married to Swedish comedian Henrik Schyffert between 1996 and 2012. They have two children. Uusma is the sister of Swedish actress Martina Haag.

English bibliography

Awards

  • 2002: Swedish Book Art Award
  • 2002: International Book Art Competition award
  • 2003: Best Books of 2003 School Library Journal
  • 2004: CCCB Choices selection
  • 2004: American Library Association Notable Books for Children designation
  • 2004: American Library Association Batchelder Honor Book designation
  • 2004: American Library Association Nonfiction Honor Book designation
  • 2006: Louisiana Young Readers' Choice nominee
  • 2013: August Prize
  • 2025: August Prize

References

External links