Carin Malmlöf-Forssling was born in 1916 in Gävle and passed away in 2005 in Falun, where she had lived since 1952. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating as a music teacher in 1942. She went on to continue her piano studies with Gottfrid Boon and studied composition under Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1970, she became a member of the Swedish Composers' Association, where she remained for a long time as its only female member.