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 Finnish
author and artist Tove Jansson has died at the age of 86. The writer,
whose books about the Moomins of Moominvalley have been compared to
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien was a reluctant author, who nevertheless
created one of the most beloved "secret lands" for children.
Born in Helsinki in 1914, Jansson grew up surrounded by creativity.
Her father, Viktor, was a sculptor, while her mother Signe designed
book covers. Although she went to school in the capital, Jansson spent
most of her formative years at an island home that her father loved.
Here all was quiet with just the occasional storm for excitement.
Very much the world that she would create for the Moomins.
At 15 she left school and went to Sweden to attend art college, and
it was while there that she wrote and illustrated her first book,
"Sara Pelle and the Water Sprite's Octopusses." Returning
home, she continued her art studies and traveled abroad, visiting
Germany, France and Italy. She began writing short stories for magazines
and by the beginning of the war was back in Helsinki working for the
magazine, "Garm," which was a lonely voice against fascism.
The Moomins, small hippopotamus-like creatures, first made their appearance
as sketches made when she was a child. She continued to experiment
with them and their world, and the first book, "The Small Trolls
and the Great Flood," was published in 1945. The debut of the
Moomins in English came the folllowing year with "Comet in Moominland,"
and was followed with eight more books featuring such creatures as
the Hemulens, the Snorkmaiden, the Hattifatteners and (my favorites)
Thingummy and Bob. The final story in the series, "Moominvalley
in November," was published in 1970 and saw the Moomins set out
on a journey leaving their house and Moominvalley behind.
Although never as popular in the US as in Europe and Japan, the Moomins
offered a distinctively Scandinavian view. Moominpapa always seemed
a little cast down and was perpetually working on memoirs of his travels.
His adventurous past set an example to his son, Moomintroll, who tried
to emulate his father with the tools at hand and was more often disappointed
than not.
After concluding the Moomin books, Jansson returned to her first love
-- art. In later years she specialized in work for public buildings
in Finland, and penned an autobiography, titled "Pictures from
an Island." |
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Today
in history... |
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1862 - It
was on this day that the Rev. Charles Dodgson told Alice Liddell
and her sisters the story of Alice, who followed a white rabbit
down a hole and entered a magical land. Alice Liddell insisted
that he write it all down.
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