Beata Ernman Thunberg is a 14-year-old Swedish singer and the sister of climate activist Greta Thunberg. She is the daughter of actor and producer Svante Thunberg and opera singer Malena Ernman. Her sister is being featured in the new I Am Greta documentary movie on Hulu.
Beata’s sister Greta has gained worldwide notoriety for her speeches on climate change. Greta began her activism by skipping school to protest outside of the Swedish parliament on every Friday, holding up a sign calling for stronger climate action.
Her protest quickly gained momentum on social media and similar protests started to pop up around the world. Greta and others organized the protest into a movement called “Fridays for Future”. Greta delivered a scathing, passionate speech at the 2018 UN Climate Conference which caused the movement to explode in popularity and inspire two multi-city protests that attracted one million students each.
Greta was a featured speaker at the UN Climate Summit 2019 where she started off her speech by addressing world leaders by saying: “For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away, and come here saying that you are doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight,” she said.
She added: “You say you ‘hear’ us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I don’t want to believe that. Because if you fully understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And I refuse to believe that.”
Here’s what you need to know about Beata Thunberg, Greta’s sister.
1. She’s a Singer in Sweden
Beata is following in her parents’ footsteps and pursuing an artistic-focused career. Her mom was a famous opera singer in Sweden who represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow. Beata is planning to perform in a musical with her mom, DW reported.
Her dad, Svante Thunberg, is an actor. According to his IMDb, he was in the Swedish TV series Skärgårdsdoktorn. This loosely translates to The Archipelago Doctor and ran from 1997 to 2000.
Beata headlined a marketing campaign for a series of books about bullying called “Handbook for Superheroes.” The series has been translated to 17 languages and has sent Beata on an international marketing tour.
She boasts over 14,000 followers on her Instagram and her fame is steadily rising.
2. She’s Helped Write Books About Her Family & Climate Change
Beata Ernman Thunberg co-authored two books with Svante, Malena and Greta. The first was Malena’s autobiography, Scenes from the Heart, which takes place as Malena and her family tour Europe to promote Ernman’s singing career. It covers a tumultuous time where Greta and Beata both start falling victim to their mental health disorders.
The second is Our House Is On Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis. The book is an autobiography of the family’s struggles centered around Greta’s work on climate change. Here is the plot summary according to GoodReads:
This is the story of a family led to confront a crisis they had never foreseen. Aged eleven, their eldest daughter has stopped eating and speaking. Alongside diagnoses of autism and selective mutism, her parents slowly become aware of another source for her distress: her imperiled future on a rapidly heating planet.
Steered by her determination to understand the truth, the family begins to see the deep connections between their own and the planet’s suffering. Against forces that try to silence them, disparaging them for being different, they discover ways to strengthen, heal, and act in the world. And then one day, fifteen-year-old Greta decides to go on strike.
3. Beata Ernman Thunberg Suffers from Multiple Mental & Developmental Disorders, but Her Family Says They Are Her ‘Superpowers’
According to passages in “Scenes from the Heart,” Beata was diagnosed with ADHD, Asperger’s syndrome, OCD, and defiant syndrome when she was 12.
Malena writes that Beata is prone to unpredictable outbursts of anger where she screams obscenities at her mother. In one instance, she called her mom “a f******* horrible devil” and threw DVD cases at her.
Beata’s OCD causes her to insist on walking with her left foot in front, refuse to step on certain parts of the sidewalk, and demand that her mother walk the same way. She used to insist that her mother wait outside while she was in class at school, demanding she not to move at all.
In Scenes From the Heart, Malena concludes that Beata and Greta’s disorders are “not a handicap” but a “superpower.”
4. She Loves Dancing & Is Starring in a Musical with Her Mother
Beata’s Instagram account is filled with videos and photos of her showing off her flexibility and has a highlight on her profile that chronicles her dancing successes and follies.
Beata is also starring in a musical with her mother, Malena Ernman, called Forever Piaf. She portrays a younger Edith Piaf, who is a French cabaret singer. Her mother portrays an adult Piaf, LadBible reported.
Beata said about the musical: “As long as I can remember, I have danced and sung. To be able to perform her [Piaf’s] immortal music is a dream come true.”
5. Greta Is One of Her Biggest Fans, But Beata Has Been Bullied Because of Her Sister’s Activism
Greta has been instrumental in helping boost Beata’s singing career on social media. She posted a photo of her and Beata on her Facebook page and wrote “So proud of my super talented sister, Beata Ernman. Listen to her new song on Spotify” and included a link to the song.
Greta’s Facebook page has over 1.6 million followers and the post on Beata’s song received 15,000 likes, 728 comments, and 422 shares. Many of the commenters praised the song and Beata’s performance.
Beata has also experienced bullying from people who don’t agree with Greta’s stance, Insider reported. Greta said that Beata “has to endure systematic bullying, hatred, and harassment.”
She said her sister gets written threats and her family often has to report those threats to the police. Greta told Insider: “The best way to help me at the moment is supporting my sister. Not because she is my sister, but because she is a wonderful and strong person.”s
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