Tove Jansson

Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and then Paris. Her first solo art exhibition was in 1943. At the same time, she was writing short stories and articles for publication, as well as creating the graphics for book covers and other purposes. She continued to work as an artist for the rest of her life, alongside her writing. Jansson wrote the Moomin books for children, starting in 1945 with The Moomins and the Great Flood. The next two books, Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll, published in 1946 and 1948 respectively, saw the series achieve high sales. Starting with the semi-autobiographical Bildhuggarens dotter (Sculptor's Daughter) in 1968, she wrote six novels and five books of short stories for adults. For her work as a children's writer she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966. Jansson's books, originally written in Swedish, have been translated into 45 languages. After the Kalevala and books by Mika Waltari, they are the most widely translated works of Finnish literature.