Lasse-Maja

Lars Larsson Molin, alias Lasse-Maja (Djupdalen, Ramsberg, Västmanland, 5 October 1785 – 4 June 1845, Arboga), was a notorious Swedish thief and memoirist. He was famous in history for disguising himself as a woman during his tours as a thief. His disguise gave him the nickname Lasse-Maja, a combination of the male name Lars and the female name Maja. He wrote his own memoirs, which became very popular in 19th-century Sweden. Biography Early life Lasse-Maja was the son of the tailor Lars Olsson and Stina Olsdotter. He was raised on the torp Nöden in the village Djupdalen in the Ramsberg parish in Västmanland. His mother came from a wealthy family and had been married before to a wealthy man by the name Molin, but his father lost her money, and Lasse-Maja was raised in poverty. In his childhood parish, he was described as an easygoing character with a fondness for entertaining people with jokes, but also for his refusal to work and for his thefts. He was the nephew of Maria Olsdotter, his maternal aunt, who owned and operated the Stråssa Mine after her husband. He described his aunt: "She was a true heroine of her sex, dressed herself in the clothes of a hunter, was an accomplished rider, loved to hunt and have other adventures of her own and was in effect more of a man than a woman." Lasse-Maja later blamed his aunt and her daughter Anna-Stina Ersdotter for having enticed him to his criminal activity, and it is clear that they played an important role in his life.