Tove Jansson, born 1914, was a Finnish author best known for her creation of the Moomin stories for children, as well as the comic strips and picture books that followed. However, the Moomins weren’t all she wrote about – there were plays for radio and theatre, poems, songs, short stories and also books aimed at adults, such as ‘The Summer Book‘ which is widely considered a classic of Nordic fiction. She passed away in 2001, and was buried in Helsinki, Finland.
The Moomins began in 1945, when Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated the first book of the series ‘The Moomins and the great flood’, to distract herself from the devastation of war in Helsinki. Jansson went on to create 8 more Moomin stories for the series, the last one published in 1970. These books have gone on to be translated into around 60 languages, and are famous around the world.
Jansson always showed great confidence in children’s imagination and understanding of emotions, and covered feelings of isolation, yearning, adventure and charm through her characters. These made the books accessible for all ages, with many adults still enjoying her stories after they’ve grown up.
As well as writing, one of Tove Jansson’s main passions was Art. Growing up, Jansson was surrounded by creativity. Her father, Viktor Jansson, was a sculptor, and her mother, Signe Hammarsten Jansson (known as ‘Ham’), was an illustrator and graphic designer. From a young age, Tove showed a love for illustration and cartoons, submitting to newspapers and magazines frequently. She went on to study art in Stokholm, Helsinki and Paris, her works being featured in various exhibitions, and creating murals across Finland at Helsinki, Hamina and Kotka.
Tove spent the second half of her life — 46 years — with the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä, whom she called Tooti. Despite this, for decades the back of the Moomin books stated that she lived alone on an island off the coast of Finland (same-sex relationships were illegal until 1971 in Finland).
Tove and Tooti began seeing each other in the winter of 1955, and soon after a new character appeared in the Moomin universe: Too-Ticky, a sage and practical solver of problems, in a tam and striped shirt. They spent their summers on Klovharun, a solitary, rocky island, where they built their own cabin, with help from friends. Their time there was documented in the book Notes from an Island, in which Tove’s diary entries are accompanied by art from Tooti.
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