Portrait of Jan Guillou

Birthday profile

Jan Guillou

Swedish author

Born
January 17, 1944
Age in 2026
82
Zodiac sign
Capricorn
Birth year
1944

About Jan Guillou

Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou is a French-Swedish author and journalist. Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist, most notably in 1973 when he and co-reporter Peter Bratt exposed a secret, immoral and illegal intelligence organization in Sweden, Informationsbyrån (IB). He is still active within journalism as a column writer for the Swedish evening tabloid Aftonbladet. Among his books are a series of spy fiction novels about a spy named Carl Hamilton, and a trilogy of historical fiction novels about a Knight Templar, Arn Magnusson. He is the owner of one of the largest publishing companies in Sweden, Piratförlaget, together with his wife, publisher Ann-Marie Skarp, and Liza Marklund. Guillou was kept first at Långholmen Prison in central Stockholm and later at Österåker Prison north of the capital. Guillou is known for his support of the Palestinian people, and he has over the years consistently criticized Israel. He later co-founded the Folket i Bild/Kulturfront magazine, at which he worked from 1972 until 1977. Guillou acquired French citizenship at birth and became a Swedish citizen in 1975.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Jan Guillou timeline

  1. He later co-founded the Folket i Bild/Kulturfront magazine, at which he worked from 1972 until 1977.
  2. Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist, most notably in 1973 when he and co-reporter Peter Bratt exposed a secret, immoral and illegal intelligence organization in Sweden, Informationsbyrån (IB).
  3. Guillou acquired French citizenship at birth and became a Swedish citizen in 1975.

The world when Jan Guillou was born

Jan Guillou was born in 1944. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1944

  • #1 song"Swinging on a Star" – Bing Crosby
  • Top movieGoing My Way
  • Best-selling bookStrange Fruit – Lillian Smith

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGreen Bay Packers win NFL Championship
  • Top headlineD-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6
  • Technology milestoneHarvard Mark I computer begins operations
  • Defining fadBobby socks
  • Notable inventionKidney dialysis machine
  • World population2.39 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population138.4M

1944 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jan Guillou's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19442026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,800$435,000
Average income$4,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.27$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population138.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.