Jansson, Tove Marika

▪ 2002

      Finnish author and artist (b. Aug. 9, 1914, Helsinki, Fin., Russian Empire—d. June 27, 2001, Helsinki, Fin.), was the author-illustrator of the popular series of children's books that recounted the adventures of the Moomins, a family of hippopotamus-like trolls that spent much of its time sleeping when not coping with floodwaters, comets, and other, less-perilous situations. Following the publication of her first book, Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (1945; “The Small Trolls and the Large Flood”), Jansson released Kometjakten (1946; Comet in Moominland, 1951). She produced several more Moomintroll books, more than 2,000 other Moomin products—plush toys, wallpaper, pens, jewelry, candles—and a comic strip, Moomins, which appeared (1953–60) in the Evening News (London). Jansson's books were written in Swedish, the language that she spoke with her parents; her juvenile works, however, were translated into more than 30 languages. Among her other works were plays for children, short stories, adult fiction, and an autobiography, Bildhuggarens dotter (1968; Sculptors' Daughter, 1969).

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