Tove Jansson – author (b. 9 August 1914 – d. 27 June 2001)

was a Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books. Tove Jansson was the daughter of the sculptor Viktor Jansson and the illustrator Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. Her brothers were also artists in different fields: Per Olov Jansson was a photographer, and Lars Jansson was an author and comic strip artist. As a Finnish citizen whose mother tongue was Swedish, Tove Jansson was part of the Swedish-speaking Finns minority. Thus, all her books were originally written in Swedish. The sea was Tove Jansson's greatest inspiration. When she was a child her family lived in summer in the Stockholm archipelago. Later in life, she had her atelier in Helsinki, but lived much of her life on a small island called Klovharu, one of the Pellinki Islands near the town of Porvoo. Tove Jansson lived with her partner, the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä. Her book Bildhuggarens dotter (1968, Sculptor's Daughter) is an autobiographical account of her youth. Tove Jansson studied at University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm 1930 - 1933, at the Graphic School of the Finnish Art Academy 1933 - 1937, and at... Read