Elvira Lindo

Elvira Lindo was born in Cadiz, Spain, on January 23, 1962 to Antonia and Manuel Lindo. Her family lived in several different places of Spain before moving to Madrid when she was twelve.

Her family’s nomadic lifestyle can be attributed to her father, Manuel Lindo, who was an auditor for the company Dragados y Construcciones.

She studied journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid after secondary school, but in 1981 she quit college to work for the Spanish National Radio.

It was while working for the radio station that Elvira Lindo first created the character of Manolito Gafotas, a child from a working class neighborhood in Madrid. She wrote weekly scripts for stories about Manolito and voiced the character herself.

She accepted the position of an announcer for Spanish National Radio in the city of Malaga before moving back to Madrid a year later.

In 1991, she began writing scripts and acting in sketch comedies on Spanish Television.

Taking a break from television to focus on writing, Elvira Lindo published eight children's novels featuring the protagonist Manolito Gafotas between 1994 and 2012.

The first installment of Manolito Gafotas has sold over a million copies in Spain alone. This series has now been translated into over 20 languages.