Кто написал сказки про муми тролля

Текст: Елена Дорофеева

• — Ты думаешь, что маяк можно погасить? — возразил папа. — Если есть
• на свете что-либо надежное, так это свет маяка.
• «Муми-папа и море»

Туве Марика Янссон (1914-2001) – одна из самых известных писательниц Финляндии, ее книги переведены более чем на 45 языков мира. Созданный ею мир муми-троллей разросся в целую вселенную, где наряду с книгами, комиксами, мультфильмами и спектаклями существуют тематические парки, музеи, сувенирная продукция. Что же особенного в этих героях, почему они по-прежнему любимы читателями всего мира, как детьми, так и взрослыми?

Туве придумала Муми-дол во время Второй мировой войны. Сначала муми-тролли были довольно мрачными – черными, с красными глазами, но затем превратились в белых добродушных существ, похожих на бегемотиков, и объединились в дружную семью. Так возникла прекрасная воображаемая страна, куда можно перенестись и на время забыть о реальности, погрузившись в мир радости, добра, любви и уюта домашнего очага. Наверное, поэтому эти истории оказались востребованы в течение многих десятилетий, нашли отклик в душе читателей – как послевоенной Финляндии, так и позднее – Европы, Японии, США, России, в том числе советского времени.

Истоки

Туве всегда подчеркивала огромную роль родителей, семьи в своем становлении как художника и писателя. Семья Янссон принадлежала к кругу шведоязычной интеллигенции Финляндии. Шведский язык, который по сей день сохранил статус второго государственного языка Финляндии (хотя своим родным языком его считают 5,5% жителей страны), в XIX – первой трети XX вв. был языком образованной части общества, художественной литературы и культуры.

Туве Янссон выросла в богемной семье: отец – Виктор Янссон (1886-1958) – был известным скульптором, мать – Сигне Хаммарштен (1882-1970), урожденная шведка, – видной художницей и иллюстратором. Туве с раннего детства начала рисовать, возможно, она научилась этому раньше, чем говорить. Младшие братья Туве также впоследствии выбрали творческие профессии: Пер-Улоф (1920—2019) стал фотографом, а Ларс (1926—2000) – художником и писателем. Мир искусства, творчества, в котором росли дети, прекрасно показан в автобиографических новеллах из сборника «Дочь скульптора».

Девочка выросла среди скульптур отца. Виктор Янссон любил приглашать в дом своих друзей-художников, при свете свечей и керосиновой лампы они играли на гавайской гитаре и балалайке, пировали. Его авторитет был в доме непререкаем, и матери приходилось подчас нелегко, ведь на ее плечи ложилось не только ведение хозяйства и воспитание детей, но и зарабатывание денег (любивший пошиковать Виктор Янссон быстро спускал свои гонорары).

Сигне Хаммарштен родилась и выросла в Швеции, начала там работать учителем рисования. В возрасте двадцати восьми лет поехала учиться в Париж, где и познакомилась с молодым финским скульптором. После свадьбы молодые люди один год прожили в Париже, а затем переехали в Хельсинки. Стабильный доход семье приносила работа Сигне: она сотрудничала с журналами и книжными издательствами как иллюстратор, а в 1920-е гг. была принята на неполный рабочий день на должность художника в типографию Финляндского Банка, печатавшую банкноты. Сигне Хаммарштен также разрабатывала дизайн почтовых марок и более чем за тридцать лет работы создала около 200 почтовых марок Финляндии.

Дом-мастерская в Хельсинки, где выросла Туве, оказал огромное влияние на всю ее дальнейшую жизнь и творчество. Она была очень привязана к родительскому дому, который оставила лишь в двадцать семь лет. Отношения с матерью были очень близкими. На ее коленях Туве и научилась рисовать. Будучи еще совсем ребенком, в возрасте около десяти лет, она осознанно начала помогать маме, и ее работы принимались издательством.

Важнейшей частью детских воспоминаний, вошедших в художественный мир Туве Янссон, стали летние каникулы. Она часто проводила лето у бабушки – на острове недалеко от Стокгольма. Эти впечатления легли в основу автобиографической повести «Летняя книга», в которой девочка София уезжает на лето на далекий остров вместе с бабушкой, сохранившей, несмотря на свой возраст, страсть к приключениям, чувство юмора и неиссякаемую фантазию.

Страшный «муууми-тролль»

Родителей радовали успехи дочери в изобразительном искусстве. В пятнадцать лет ей разрешили уйти из обычной школы и отправили учиться в Стокгольмскую школу искусства и дизайна. Там Туве изучала каллиграфию, декоративную роспись, художественное оформление книг и дизайн рекламы. Во время учебы в Швеции она жила в семье дяди Эйнара Хаммерштена – профессора-химика, который стал одним из «виновников» появления на свет муми-троллей. Именно от него Туве Янссон впервые услышала это слово. Чтобы отучить племянницу «хомячить» по ночам, дядя однажды предупредил ее, что «придет муууми-тролль, подышит ей холодом на шею, если она слишком часто будет по ночам лазить в шкаф с продуктами».

Первого муми-тролля Туве нарисовала, когда ей было шестнадцать. Как рассказывает ее племянница София, – на стене туалета на острове, где семья часто проводила отпуск. Туве назвала его Снорк, и он стал периодически появляться на ее рисунках как своеобразная эмблема или печать:

«Там шла очень бурная переписка, например, с братьями они о философских проблемах размышляли. И вот в один из дней как-то брат оставил там историю, какую-то надпись о Канте. Туве не могла придумать что-то в ответ ему и нарисовала какое-то существо. Тогда она сказала, что это было самое некрасивое существо, какое только она могла придумать. Это и был первый Муми-тролль».

В середине 1930-х гг. Туве Янссон активно работала как иллюстратор. Пойдя по стопам матери, стала рисовать для юмористического журнала «Гарм» (Garm) – форума для финско-шведских писателей, журналистов, ученых и иллюстраторов. С конца 1930-х годов журнал пытался выступать в роли рупора антифашистского общественного мнения. Туве Янссон нарисовала множество обложек со смелыми карикатурами, всегда подписываясь своим настоящим именем.

Рождение муми-троллей

В конце 1930-х годов Туве Янссон начинает писать книгу о семействе муми-троллей:

«Была военная зима 1939 года. Всякая работа застопорилась, казалось совершенно невозможным даже пытаться рисовать картинки. Возможно, покажется естественным и понятным, что мне внезапно захотелось написать что-нибудь, начинавшееся словами: „Жили-были…“ Уже наполовину готовое повествование было забыто до 1945 года, когда неожиданно пришел один из моих друзей и сказал, что написанное мной, – кажется, детская книжка; допиши, мол, ее до конца и проиллюстрируй, возможно, повесть напечатают». (Туве Янссон. Из предисловия к изданию 1991 г.)

Этим другом был журналист Атос Виртанен, с которым Туве даже была помолвлена, но свадьба так и не состоялась. Благодаря его поддержке она действительно дописала и проиллюстрировала книгу.

В образах муми-героев воплотились черты близких Туве Янссон. Муми-мама и муми-папа – это, конечно, родители. Мама – источник тепла, любви и заботы, всегда готовая к приходу гостей (в кладовке у нее обязательно припасено что-то вкусное). Папа – время от времени впадающий в депрессию от спокойной и уравновешенной жизни в долине, который усаживает свою семью в лодку и переезжает на скалистый островок с маяком далеко в море. Друг и возлюбленный Туве – Атос Виртанен – стал прототипом одного из самых известных и симпатичных персонажей Муми-дола – Снусмумрика. Зеленая шляпа Снусмумрика была срисована с той, что носил Виртанен. Образ созерцательной и философствующей Туу-Тикки из повести «Волшебная зима» несет в себе черты Тууликки Пиетиля – художницы и скульптура, с которой Туве прожила последние сорок пять лет своей 87-летней жизни. Главный герой Муми-тролль, по признанию самой писательницы, – это её alter ego.

Именно в военные годы Туве покидает родительский дом, жить в котором ей становилось все труднее. Несколько лет она не могла найти подходящей студии, где можно было бы жить и работать. В конце лета 1944 года Туве повезло, она смогла снять помещение – дом с башней в Хельсинки. После бомбардировки города он был в ужасном состоянии:

«Здесь нет окон, повсюду трещины, от стен откололись большие куски, от камина и батарей ничего не осталось. Но все же это — моя большая мечта. Просторная столовая, рядом — небольшая комната, в которой можно жить». (Из дневника Туве Янссон).

Туве постепенно обустраивала помещение, которое она очень полюбила, а в начале 1950-х смогла его выкупить. Она устраивала здесь театральные представления, танцы, приглашала друзей, из-за чего соседи часто жаловались. Именно в башне на улице Улланлиннанкату Туве Янссон создала свои самые главные рисунки и истории о муми-троллях. Она прожила в этом ателье больше шестидесяти лет.

Первая книга «Маленькие тролли и большое наводнение» увидела свет в 1945 году в издательстве Söderström и вовсе не была успешной. Изначально Туве Янссон написала ее на финском языке, но затем сама перевела на шведский. Позднее она считала эту книгу наименее удачной из всех произведений цикла. К тому же ей пришлось пойти на уступки шведским редакторам, которые отвергли первоначальное название «Муми-тролли и большое наводнение», мотивируя тем, что слово «mumintroll» будет для читателей непонятным и потому непривлекательным.

Вторая книга «Комета прилетает» вышла через год – в 1946 году в том же издательстве. Образы героев, от страха перед приближением кометы бросающих свои дома, были навеяны воспоминаниями о бомбежках военного времени. Эта книга также не вызвала особенного интереса у читателей, и издательство прекратило сотрудничество с Туве Янссон — все последующие произведения она публиковала в издательстве Schildts. В 1949 году театральный режиссер Вивика Бандлер поставила в Шведском театре спектакль по книге «Муми-тролль и комета». Автором пьесы и декораций стала сама Туве. Спектакль стал очень успешным. Кстати, это была первая книга Туве Янссон, переведенная на русский язык. Перевод был выполнен переводчиком-полиглотом Владимиром Смирновым и издан в 1967 году.

Муми-тролли покоряют мир

Только третья повесть – «Шляпа волшебника» (1948) – имела успех у читателей. Эта книга стала литературным прорывом 34-летней писательницы, получив положительную критику – как в Финляндии, так и в Швеции, и в итоге принесла ей мировую известность. Муми-тролли полюбились читателям разных стран, их стали издавать огромными тиражами. Необходимо было придумывать новые истории. В 1950-е-60-е годы в Финляндии вышли книги «Опасное лето», «Мемуары Муми-папы», «Волшебная зима», «Папа и море». А также сборник рассказов «Дитя-невидимка», 4 книжки в картинках («Опасное путешествие», «Что дальше?», «Кто утешит малютку», «Мошенник в доме Муми-троллей»). Книжки-картинки Туве Янссон «Что дальше? Книга о Мюмле, Муми-тролле и Малышке Мю» (1952 год), и «Кто утешит Кнютта?» (1960) до сих пор остаются необычайно популярными, постоянно переиздаются.

В 1952 году английское агентство Associated Press предложило Туве Янссон рисовать комиксы про муми-троллей на постоянной основе. Книги «Комета прилетает» и «Шляпа волшебника» были уже переведены на английский язык и пользовались успехом в Великобритании. Директор агентства Чарльз Саттон написал Туве письмо, в котором рассказал о своей идее:

«Мне пришло в голову, что «Муми-семья может стать интереснейшим комиксом, который необязательно будет адресован детям. Конечно, семья Муми-троллей всегда привлекает детей, но мы думаем, что эти замечательные существа могут быть использованы и в комиксах, и с их помощью автор сможет высмеять наш так называемый цивилизованный образ жизни».

Туве Янссон предложили выпускать по одному комикс-стрипу в день, при условии, что это будут забавные истории с продолжением, лишенные политики, смертей и упоминаний королевской семьи. Она согласилась, и был заключен семилетний контракт. Первый комикс «Муми-тролль и разбойники» появился на страницах лондонской газеты The Evening News с тиражом 12 миллионов экземпляров 20 сентября 1954 года. В течение семи лет публиковалось по шесть коротких комиксов в неделю! С муми-троллями познакомились миллионы людей по всему миру (позже права на комиксы купили другие европейские газеты).

Несмотря на то, что работа приносила стабильный высокий доход, вскоре она принесла неизбывный стресс: постоянное развитие сюжета, графики сдачи материала изматывали Туве Янссон. Сначала она лично рисовала каждую полоску комикса, вкладывая в это душу, но потом она начала уставать, и у нее уже не хватало времени ни на что другое. Тогда ей стал помогать брат Ларс, который и до этого был ее «правой рукой»: переводил комиксы на английский, помогал сочинять сценарии. Ларс Янссон более пятнадцати лет рисовал муми-комиксы и сделал из этого прибыльный бизнес. Также они вместе с Туве делали спектакли, писали театральные сценарии и тексты песен.

В конце 1950-х-1960-х началось триумфальное шествие муми-троллей по миру. По мотивам произведений Туве Янссон снимались телевизионные и мультипликационные фильмы, ставились спектакли, радиопостановки. Не только в Финляндии, но в Швеции, Германии, Японии, где Туве Янссон и ее герои были необычайно популярны. В начале 1990-х годов в Японии вышел сериал про муми-троллей, состоящий более чем из 100 серий. Туве несколько раз была в Японии, там проходили ее выставки, а принимали ее как голливудскую звезду.

Муми-СССР

До Советского Союза волна популярности муми-троллей докатилась позднее и пришлась на 1980-е-1990-е годы. Литературовед и переводчица скандинавской литературы Людмила Брауде вспоминала:

«Где-то в декабре 1992 года я рассказала писательнице о том, каким успехом пользуются книги о муми-троллях в нашей стране и сколько их опубликовано за последнее время, а также о письмах и откликах читателей на ее произведения. “Это — настоящий бум!” — сказала я. Задумчиво глядя перед собой, Янссон заметила: “Сейчас муми-бум во многих странах».

Почему же «белые бегемотики» оказались так востребованы, стали неким знаком интеллигентного советского детства? На этот вопрос нельзя ответить наверняка, мы можем лишь строить догадки.

Популярность книг про муми-троллей, вероятно, объясняется психологической точностью и тем мастерством, с которым писательница балансирует между миром детей и миром взрослых. Это не просто увлекательное чтение для детей, но многогранные художественные тексты, занимающие филологов, психологов, философов, искусствоведов в той же мере, что и читателей всех возрастов. С жителями Муми-дола все время что-то случается, они страдают, борются с одиночеством и ищут себя, но в конце всегда возвращаются домой — в уютное и теплое место, где всегда пахнет вкусной едой, где тебя любят и ждут… и не конопатят мозги идеологией.

Кроме того, книгам Туве Янссон несомненно повезло с переводчиками. Первыми и лучшими переводами книг финской писательницы были работы Владимира Смирнова: они выходили тиражами 75-100 тыс. экземпляров, постоянно переиздавались. Позднее истории про муми-троллей переводили Людмила Брауде, Нина Белякова, Ирина Токмакова.

Большую роль в «популяризации муми-троллей», вероятно, сыграла и серия прекрасных мультфильмов «Муми-тролль и другие», «Муми-тролль и комета» и «Муми-тролль и комета: Путь домой», снятых в 1978 году режиссером Аидой Зябликовой. Сценаристом и автором текста песен была Людмила Петрушевская, а роли озвучивали Зиновий Гердт, Рина Зелёная, Юрий Яковлев, Ольга Гобзева…

В тени Муми-дола

Слава тяготила Туве Янссон, она все больше мечтала об уединении. Став одной из самых богатых женщин Финляндии, она смогла осуществить свою мечту и приобрела небольшой остров – Кловхарун – в Финском заливе, где проводила каждое лето с 1964 по 1992 год. Жизнь на острове была абсолютно лишена не только роскоши, но даже обычных бытовых удобств. Но Туве самозабвенно любила эти скалы, бушующее море и крики чаек, парящих над волнами.

При всей многогранности своего таланта, Туве Янссон всегда мечтала реализовать себя в первую очередь как живописец. Однако слава, которая буквально обрушилась на нее после мирового успеха книг о муми-троллях, сделала ее мечту едва осуществимой, ведь придумывание новых сюжетов и рисование иллюстраций занимало почти все свободное время. Туве Янссон закончила писать истории о муми-троллях в 1970 году – в год смерти матери. Позднее она писала только «взрослую» прозу: в основном повести и рассказы о человеческих взаимоотношениях, их хрупкости и уязвимости, о дружбе, любви и одиночестве. Помимо уже упомянутых «Летней книги» (1972) и «Дочери скульптора» (1978), это сборники «Умеющая слушать» (1971), «Путешествие налегке» (1987), «Честная игра» (1989), «Письма Клары» (1991), «Серый шелк» (1971-1991). Последним опубликованным произведением Туве Янссон стала автобиографическая дневниковая проза «Записки с острова» (1996).

Туве Янссон умерла в Хельсинки в июне 2001 года в возрасте 87 лет. За свою долгую жизнь она была удостоена множества национальных и международных премий. В 1966 году Янссон получила Премию имени Ханса Кристиана Андерсена — высшую награду в области детской литературы:

«Стать лауреатом Международной Золотой Медали, носящей имя Ханса Кристиана Андерсена, — необычайно ответственно, — сказала она. — Но, как это ни странно, я не ощущаю привычного бремени, которое налагает чувство ответственности. Я просто счастлива».

Tove Jansson
Jansson in 1956 with moomintroll dolls made by Atelier Fauni
Born	Tove Marika Jansson 9 August 1914 Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died	27 June 2001 (aged 86) Helsinki, Finland
Occupation	Artist, writer, painter
Language	Swedish
Nationality	Finnish
Notable works	The Moomins The Summer Book
Notable awards	Hans Christian Andersen Award 1966 Order of the Smile 1975 Pro Finlandia 1976
Partner	Tuulikki Pietilä
Signature

Tove Marika Jansson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtuːve ˈjɑnson] (listen); 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and 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 and a writer for the rest of her life.

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, were highly successful in sales, adding to sales of the first book. For her work as a children’s writer she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966.^[1][2] The Moomins also spun off to a comic strip, initially created by Jansson herself, and in 2016 Jansson was included in The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

Starting with the semi-autobiographical Bildhuggarens dotter (Sculptor’s Daughter) in 1968, Jansson wrote six novels, including the admired^[3] Sommarboken (The Summer Book), and five books of short stories for adults.

Early life[edit]

Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, a part of the Russian Empire at the time. Her family, part of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland, was an artistic one: her father, Viktor Jansson, was a sculptor, and her mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, was a Swedish-born graphic designer and illustrator. Tove’s siblings also became artists: Per Olov Jansson became a photographer and Lars Jansson an author and cartoonist. Whilst their home was in Helsinki, the family spent many of their summers in a rented cottage on an island near Porvoo, 50 km (31 miles) east of Helsinki;^[4] among other things, the Söderskär Lighthouse island off Porvoo in the Gulf of Finland served as an important source of inspiration for her later literature (see Moominpappa at Sea).^[5]

Jansson went to Läroverket för gossar och flickor in Helsinki and then studied at University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, in Stockholm in 1930–1933, the Graphic School of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 1933–1937, and finally at L’École d’Adrien Holy and L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1938. She displayed a number of artworks in exhibitions during the 1930s and early 1940s, and her first solo exhibition was held in 1943.

At age 14, Jansson wrote and illustrated her first picture book Sara och Pelle och näckens bläckfiskar (Sara and Pelle and Neptune’s Children).^[6] It was not published until 1933. She also sold drawings that were published in magazines in the 1920s.^[7]

During the 1930s Jansson made several trips to other European countries. She drew from these for her short stories and articles, which she also illustrated, and which were also published in magazines, periodicals and daily papers. During this period, Jansson also designed many book covers, adverts and postcards. Following her mother’s example, she drew illustrations for Garm [sv], an anti-fascist Finnish-Swedish satirical magazine.^[7]

She was briefly engaged in the 1940s to Atos Wirtanen.^[7] During her later studies, Jansson met her future partner Tuulikki Pietilä.^[8] The two women collaborated on many works and projects, including a model of the Moominhouse, in collaboration with Pentti Eistola. This is now exhibited at the Moomin museum in Tampere.

Work[edit]

Moomins[edit]

Jansson is principally known as the author of the Moomin books. Jansson created the Moomins, a family of trolls who are white, round and smooth in appearance, with large snouts that make them vaguely resemble hippopotamuses.

The first Moomin book, The Moomins and the Great Flood, was written in 1945. Although the primary characters are Moominmamma and Moomintroll, most of the principal characters of later stories were only introduced in the next book, so The Moomins and the Great Flood is frequently considered a forerunner to the main series. The book was not a success, but the next two installments in the Moomin series, Comet in Moominland (1946) and Finn Family Moomintroll (1948), brought Jansson some fame. The original title of Finn Family Moomintroll, Trollkarlens Hatt, translates as The Magician’s Hat.

The style of the Moomin books changed as time went by. The first books, written starting just after the Second World War, up to Moominland Midwinter (1957), are adventure stories that include floods, comets and supernatural events. The Moomins and the Great Flood deals with Moominmamma and Moomintroll’s flight through a dark and scary forest, where they encounter various dangers. In Comet in Moominland, a comet nearly destroys the Moominvalley (some critics have considered this an allegory of nuclear weapons^[9]). Finn Family Moomintroll deals with adventures brought on by the discovery of a magician’s hat. The Exploits of Moominpappa (1950) tells the story of Moominpappa’s adventurous youth and cheerfully parodies the genre of memoir. Finally, Moominsummer Madness (1955) pokes fun at the world of the theatre: the Moomins explore an empty theatre and perform Moominpappa’s pompous hexametric melodrama.

In addition to the Moomin novels and short stories, Tove Jansson also wrote and illustrated four original and popular picture books: The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My (1952), Who will Comfort Toffle? (1960), The Dangerous Journey (1977) and An Unwanted Guest (1980). As the Moomins’ fame grew, two of the original novels, Comet in Moominland and The Exploits of Moominpappa, were revised by Jansson and republished.

Critics have interpreted various Moomin characters as being inspired by real people, especially members of the author’s family, and Jansson spoke in interviews about the backgrounds of, and possible models for, her characters.^[7]

Pietilä’s personality inspired the character Too-Ticky in Moominland Midwinter^[4][7] and Moomintroll and Little My have been seen as psychological self-portraits of the artist.^[4][7] Jansson referred to Moomintroll as her alter-ego.^[10]

The Moomins, generally speaking, relate strongly to Jansson’s own family – they were bohemian and lived close to nature. Jansson remained close to her mother until her mother’s death in 1970; even after Tove had become an adult, the two often traveled together, and during her final years Signe also lived with Tove part-time.^[7] Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as portraits of Jansson’s parents.^{[4][7][10][11]}

Other writing[edit]

After Moominvalley in November Tove Jansson stopped writing about Moomins and started writing for adults. Jansson’s first foray outside children’s literature was Bildhuggarens dotter [sv] (Sculptor’s Daughter), a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1968. After that, she wrote five more novels, including Sommarboken (The Summer Book) and five collections of short stories. The Summer Book is the best known of her adult fiction translated into English. It is a work of charm, subtlety and simplicity, describing the summer stay on an island of a young girl and her grandmother. The girl is modelled on her niece, Sophia Jansson; the girl’s father on Sophia’s father, Lars Jansson; and the grandmother on Tove’s mother Signe.^[3]

Wartime satire in Garm magazine[edit]

Tove Jansson worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the Swedish-language satirical magazine Garm from the 1930s to 1953.^[13] One of her political cartoons achieved a brief international fame: she drew Adolf Hitler as a crying baby in diapers, surrounded by Neville Chamberlain and other great European leaders, who tried to calm the baby down by giving it slices of cake – Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc. In the Second World War, during which Finland fought against the Soviet Union, part of the time cooperating with Nazi Germany,^[14] her cover illustrations for Garm lampooned both Hitler and Joseph Stalin: in one, Stalin draws his sword from his impressively long scabbard, only to find it absurdly short; in another, multiple Hitlers ransack a house, carrying away food and artworks. In The Spectator‘s view, Jansson made Hitler a preposterous little figure, self-important and comic.^[12]

Comic strip artist[edit]

Jansson also produced illustrations during this period for the Christmas magazines Julen and Lucifer (just as her mother had earlier) as well as several smaller productions. Her earliest comic strips were created for productions including Lunkentus (Prickinas och Fabians äventyr, 1929), Vårbrodd (Fotbollen som Flög till Himlen‘, 1930), and Allas Krönika (Palle och Göran gå till sjöss, 1933).^[15]

The figure of the Moomintroll appeared first in Jansson’s political cartoons, where it was used as a signature character near the artist’s name. This «Proto-Moomin», then called Snork or Niisku,^[7] was thin and ugly, with a long, narrow nose and devilish tail. Jansson said that she had designed the Moomins in her youth: after she lost a philosophical quarrel about Immanuel Kant with one of her brothers, she drew «the ugliest creature imaginable» on the wall of their outhouse and wrote under it «Kant». This Moomin later gained weight and a more pleasant appearance, but in the first Moomin book The Moomins and the Great Flood (originally Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen), the Immanuel-Kant-Moomin is still perceptible. The name Moomin comes from Tove Jansson’s uncle, Einar Hammarsten: when she was studying in Stockholm and living with her Swedish relatives, her uncle tried to stop her pilfering food by telling her that a «Moomintroll» lived in the kitchen closet and breathed cold air down people’s necks.^[7]
in
In 1952, after Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll had been translated into English, a British publisher asked if Tove Jansson would be interested in drawing comic strips about the Moomins. Jansson had already drawn a long Moomin comic adventure, Mumintrollet och jordens undergång (Moomintroll and the End of the World), based loosely on Comet in Moominland, for the Swedish-language newspaper Ny Tid, and she accepted the offer. The comic strip Moomintroll, started in 1954 in the London Evening News. Tove Jansson drew 21 long Moomin stories from 1954 to 1959, writing them at first by herself and then with her brother Lars Jansson. She eventually gave the strip up because the daily work of a comic artist did not leave her time to write books and paint, but Lars took over the strip and continued it until 1975.

The series was published in book form in Swedish; books 1 to 6 have been published in English, Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip.

Painter and illustrator[edit]

Although she became known first and foremost as an author, Tove Jansson considered her careers as author and painter to be of equal importance. She painted her whole life, changing style from the classical impressionism of her youth to the highly abstract modernist style of her later years. Jansson displayed a number of artworks in exhibitions during the 1930s and early 1940s, and her first solo exhibition was held in 1943. Despite generally positive reviews, criticism induced Jansson to refine her style such that in her 1955 solo exhibition her style had become less overloaded in terms of detail and content. Between 1960 and 1970 Jansson held five more solo exhibitions.^[7]

Jansson also created a series of commissioned murals and public works throughout her career, which may still be viewed in their original locations. These works of Jansson’s included:

• The canteen at the Strömberg factory at Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki (1945)^[7]
• The Aurora Children’s Hospital in Helsinki^[4]
• The Kaupunginkellari restaurant of Helsinki City Hall^[4] – Transferred in 1974 to Helsinki Swedish-language Adult Education Centre «Workers’ Institute» Arbis and in 2016 to a permanent Jansson exhibition at Helsinki Art Museum^[16]
• The Seurahuone hotel at Hamina^[7]
• The Wise and Foolish Virgins altarpiece in Teuva Church (1954)^[7]
• A number of fairy-tale murals in schools and kindergartens including the kindergarten in Pori (1984)^[7]

In addition to providing the illustrations for her own Moomin books, Jansson also illustrated Swedish translations of classics such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit^[17] and Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark^[18] and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland^[19] (some used later in Finnish translations as well). She also illustrated her late work, The Summer Book (1972).

Theatre[edit]

Several stage productions have been made from Jansson’s Moomin series, including a number that Jansson herself was involved in.

The earliest production was a 1949 theatrical version of Comet in Moominland performed at Åbo Svenska Teater.^[7]

In the early 1950s, Jansson collaborated on Moomin-themed children’s plays with Vivica Bandler. In 1952, Jansson designed stage settings and dresses for Pessi and Illusia, a ballet by Ahti Sonninen (Radio tekee murron) which was performed at the Finnish National Opera.^[7] By 1958, Jansson began to become directly involved in theater as Lilla Teater produced Troll i kulisserna (Troll in the wings), a play with lyrics by Jansson and music composed by Erna Tauro. The production was a success, and later performances were held in Sweden and Norway.^[4]

In 1974 the first Moomin opera was produced, with music composed by Ilkka Kuusisto.^[4]

Personal life[edit]

Jansson had several male lovers, including the political philosopher Atos Wirtanen, who was the inspiration for the Moomin character Snufkin. However, she eventually «went over to the spook side» as she put it—a coded expression for homosexuality^{[20][21][22][23]}—and developed a secret love affair with the married theater director Vivica Bandler.^[24]

In 1956 Jansson met her lifelong partner, Tuulikki Pietilä – or «Tooti», as she was known. In Helsinki they lived separately, in neighbouring blocks, visiting each other privately through an attic passageway. In the 1960s, they built a house on a tiny uninhabited island in the Gulf of Finland, 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Helsinki, where they would escape for the summer months.^[25] Jansson’s and Pietilä’s travels and summers spent together on the Klovharu island in Pellinki have been captured on several hours of film, shot by Pietilä. Several documentaries have been made of this footage, the latest being Haru, yksinäinen saari (Haru, the lonely island) (1998)^[26] and Tove ja Tooti Euroopassa (Tove and Tooti in Europe) (2004).^[27] It is speculated that the character Too-ticky, a wise human who wears a red striped shirt and carries a briefcase, was inspired by Pietilä.^[24]

Jansson died on 27 June 2001 at the age of 86 from cancer and is buried with her parents and younger brother Lars, at the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.^{[21][28][29][30][31]}

Family[edit]

• Viktor Jansson (born 1829) married Ida Maria Lemström (born 1842)
  • Julius Viktor Jansson (1862–1892) married Johanna Theresia Karlsson (1864–1938)
    • Viktor Bernhard Jansson (1886–1958) married Signe Hammarsten (1882–1970)
      • Tove Marika Jansson (1914–2001), intimate partnership with Tuulikki «Tooti» Pietilä (1956–until death)^[32][a]
      • Per Olov Jansson (1920–2019)
      • Lars Jansson (1926–2000)
        • Vivica Sophia Jansson (born 1962) married ______ Zambra
          • James Zambra (born 1989)
          • Thomas Zambra (born 1992)^[33]
    • Julius Edvard Jansson (born 1887) married Toini Maria Ilmonen

Cultural legacy[edit]

The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children’s books. Jansson received the writing award in 1966.^[1][2]

In 1968, Swedish public TV, SVT, made a documentary about Tove called Moomins and the Harbor (39 min.).^[34]

Jansson’s books, originally written in Swedish, have been translated into 45 languages.^[36] After the Kalevala and books by Mika Waltari, they are the most widely translated works of Finnish literature.

The Moomin Museum in Tampere displays much of Jansson’s work on the Moomins. There is also a Moomin theme park named Moomin World in Naantali.

Tove Jansson was selected as the main motif in the 2004 minting of a Finnish commemorative coin, the €10 Tove Jansson and Finnish Children’s Culture commemorative coin. The obverse depicts a combination of Tove Jansson portrait with several objects: the skyline, an artist’s palette, a crescent and a sailing boat. The reverse design features three Moomin characters. In 2014 she was again featured on a commemorative coin, minted at €10 and €20 values, being the only person other than the former Finnish president Urho Kekkonen to be granted two such coins.^[37] She was also featured on a €2 commemorative coin that entered general circulation in June 2014.^[38]

Since 1988, Finland’s Post has released several postage stamp sets and one postal card with Moomin motifs.^[39] In 2014, Jansson herself was featured on a Finnish stamp set.^[40]

In 2014 the City of Helsinki honored Jansson by renaming a park in Katajanokka as Tove Jansson’s Park (Finnish: Tove Janssonin puisto, Swedish: Tove Janssons park). The park is located near Jansson’s childhood home.^[41][42]

In March 2014, the Ateneum Art Museum opened a major centenary exhibition showcasing Jansson’s works as an artist, an illustrator, a political caricaturist and the creator of the Moomins. The exhibition drew nearly 300,000 visitors in six months.^[43] After Helsinki the exhibition embarked on a tour in Japan to visit five Japanese museums.^[44][45]

In 2012, the BBC broadcast a one-hour documentary on Jansson, Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson.^[46]

From October 2017 to January 2018, the Dulwich Picture Gallery held an exhibition of Jansson’s paintings, illustrations, and cartoons.^[47] This was the first major retrospective exhibition of her work in the United Kingdom.^[35]

With a new animated series, Moominvalley^[48] broadcast in 2019, Rhianna Pratchett wrote an article about the impact Tove Jansson had had on her father Sir Terry Pratchett; he called Jansson one of the greatest children’s writers there has ever been and credited her writing as one of the reasons he became an author.^[49]

A biopic, titled Tove, directed by Zaida Bergroth was released in October 2020.^[50]

Bibliography[edit]

The Moomin books[edit]

Novels[edit]

• Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (1945, The Moomins and the Great Flood)
• Kometjakten (1946, Comet in Moominland)
• Kometen kommer (1968; reworked edition of Comet in Moominland)
• Trollkarlens hatt (1948, Finn Family Moomintroll; in some editions The Happy Moomins)
• Muminpappans bravader (1950, The Exploits of Moominpappa)
• Muminpappans memoarer (1968, The Memoirs of Moominpappa; reworked edition of The Exploits of Moominpappa)
• Farlig midsommar (1954, Moominsummer Madness)
• Trollvinter (1957, Moominland Midwinter)
• Pappan och havet (1965, Moominpappa at Sea)
• Sent i november (1970, Moominvalley in November)

Short story collections[edit]

• Det osynliga barnet och andra berättelser (1962, Tales from Moominvalley)

Picture books[edit]

• Hur gick det sen? (1952, The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My)
• Vem ska trösta Knyttet? (1960, Who Will Comfort Toffle?)
• Den farliga resan (1977, The Dangerous Journey)
• Skurken i Muminhuset (1980, Villain in the Moominhouse)
• Visor från Mumindalen (1993, Songs From Moominvalley; songbook. With Lars Jansson and Erna Tauro)

Comic strips[edit]

• Mumin, Books 1–7 (1977–1981, Moomin; Books 3–7 with Lars Jansson) (Books 1–6 released in English).^[51]

Other books[edit]

Novels[edit]

• Sommarboken (1972, The Summer Book)
• Solstaden (1974, Sun City)
• Den ärliga bedragaren (1982, The True Deceiver)
• Stenåkern (1984, The Field of Stones)
• Rent spel (1989, Fair Play)

Short story collections[edit]

• Bildhuggarens dotter (1968, Sculptor’s Daughter) (semi-autobiographical)
• Lyssnerskan (1971, The Listener)
• Dockskåpet och andra berättelser (1978, Art in Nature)
• Resa med lätt bagage (1987, Travelling Light)
• Brev från Klara och andra berättelser (1991, Letters from Klara and Other Stories)
• Meddelande. Noveller i urval 1971–1997 (1998 compilation, Messages. Selected stories 1971–1997)
• A Winter Book (2006 compilation)

Miscellaneous[edit]

• Sara och Pelle och näckens bläckfiskar (under the pseudonym of Vera Haij, 1933, Sara and Pelle and the Octopuses of the Water Sprite)
• Anteckningar från en ö (1993, Notes from an Island; autobiography; illustrated by Tuulikki Pietilä)
• Letters from Tove (2019) (personal letters written by Tove, edited by Boel Westin and Helen Svensson)

Awards[edit]

• Hans Christian Andersen Award (gold medal, 1966)^[52]
• Award for State Literature (1963, 1971 and 1982)^[4]
• Swedish Academy Finland Prize (1972)
• Order of the Smile (1975)
• Pro Finlandia Medal (1976)^[4]
• Swedish Culture Foundation Honorary Award (1983)^[53]
• The Finnish Cultural Award (1990)^[53]
• Selma Lagerlöf Prize (1992)^[53]
• The Finland Art Prize (1993)^[53]
• Mercuri International pronssiomena (1994)^[53]
• The Swedish Academy Award (1994)^[53]
• The American-Scandinavian Foundation Honorary Cultural Award (1996)^[53]
• WSOY Literary Foundation Award (1999)^[53]
• Le Prix de l’Office Chrétien du Livre ^[53]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Tove Jansson at www.moomin.com (in Finnish, Swedish, and English)
• Tove Jansson at Schildts (in Finnish and Swedish)
• Tove Jansson and the altarpiece «Ten Virgins» (in Finnish, Swedish, English, and Japanese)
• Tove Jansson at WSOY (in Finnish)
• thisisFINLAND: People – Tove Jansson: writer, painter and illustrator
• The Moomin Trove Comprehensive lists of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books
• Tove Jansson and The Moomin Trove by Finland Travel Club
• Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson (BBC) by Eleanor Yule
• Tove Jansson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Tove Jansson at Library of Congress Authorities, with 91 catalogue records
• Jansson, Tove (1914 — 2001) at National Biographies of Finland
• «Tove Jansson». Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. urn:NBN:fi:sls-4317-1416928956923.

Tove Jansson
Jansson in 1956 with moomintroll dolls made by Atelier Fauni
Born	Tove Marika Jansson 9 August 1914 Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died	27 June 2001 (aged 86) Helsinki, Finland
Occupation	Artist, writer, painter
Language	Swedish
Nationality	Finnish
Notable works	The Moomins The Summer Book
Notable awards	Hans Christian Andersen Award 1966 Order of the Smile 1975 Pro Finlandia 1976
Partner	Tuulikki Pietilä
Signature

Tove Marika Jansson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtuːve ˈjɑnson] (listen); 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and 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 and a writer for the rest of her life.

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, were highly successful in sales, adding to sales of the first book. For her work as a children’s writer she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966.^[1][2] The Moomins also spun off to a comic strip, initially created by Jansson herself, and in 2016 Jansson was included in The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

Starting with the semi-autobiographical Bildhuggarens dotter (Sculptor’s Daughter) in 1968, Jansson wrote six novels, including the admired^[3] Sommarboken (The Summer Book), and five books of short stories for adults.

Early life[edit]

Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, a part of the Russian Empire at the time. Her family, part of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland, was an artistic one: her father, Viktor Jansson, was a sculptor, and her mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson, was a Swedish-born graphic designer and illustrator. Tove’s siblings also became artists: Per Olov Jansson became a photographer and Lars Jansson an author and cartoonist. Whilst their home was in Helsinki, the family spent many of their summers in a rented cottage on an island near Porvoo, 50 km (31 miles) east of Helsinki;^[4] among other things, the Söderskär Lighthouse island off Porvoo in the Gulf of Finland served as an important source of inspiration for her later literature (see Moominpappa at Sea).^[5]

Jansson went to Läroverket för gossar och flickor in Helsinki and then studied at University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, in Stockholm in 1930–1933, the Graphic School of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 1933–1937, and finally at L’École d’Adrien Holy and L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1938. She displayed a number of artworks in exhibitions during the 1930s and early 1940s, and her first solo exhibition was held in 1943.

At age 14, Jansson wrote and illustrated her first picture book Sara och Pelle och näckens bläckfiskar (Sara and Pelle and Neptune’s Children).^[6] It was not published until 1933. She also sold drawings that were published in magazines in the 1920s.^[7]

During the 1930s Jansson made several trips to other European countries. She drew from these for her short stories and articles, which she also illustrated, and which were also published in magazines, periodicals and daily papers. During this period, Jansson also designed many book covers, adverts and postcards. Following her mother’s example, she drew illustrations for Garm [sv], an anti-fascist Finnish-Swedish satirical magazine.^[7]

She was briefly engaged in the 1940s to Atos Wirtanen.^[7] During her later studies, Jansson met her future partner Tuulikki Pietilä.^[8] The two women collaborated on many works and projects, including a model of the Moominhouse, in collaboration with Pentti Eistola. This is now exhibited at the Moomin museum in Tampere.

Work[edit]

Moomins[edit]

Jansson is principally known as the author of the Moomin books. Jansson created the Moomins, a family of trolls who are white, round and smooth in appearance, with large snouts that make them vaguely resemble hippopotamuses.

The first Moomin book, The Moomins and the Great Flood, was written in 1945. Although the primary characters are Moominmamma and Moomintroll, most of the principal characters of later stories were only introduced in the next book, so The Moomins and the Great Flood is frequently considered a forerunner to the main series. The book was not a success, but the next two installments in the Moomin series, Comet in Moominland (1946) and Finn Family Moomintroll (1948), brought Jansson some fame. The original title of Finn Family Moomintroll, Trollkarlens Hatt, translates as The Magician’s Hat.

The style of the Moomin books changed as time went by. The first books, written starting just after the Second World War, up to Moominland Midwinter (1957), are adventure stories that include floods, comets and supernatural events. The Moomins and the Great Flood deals with Moominmamma and Moomintroll’s flight through a dark and scary forest, where they encounter various dangers. In Comet in Moominland, a comet nearly destroys the Moominvalley (some critics have considered this an allegory of nuclear weapons^[9]). Finn Family Moomintroll deals with adventures brought on by the discovery of a magician’s hat. The Exploits of Moominpappa (1950) tells the story of Moominpappa’s adventurous youth and cheerfully parodies the genre of memoir. Finally, Moominsummer Madness (1955) pokes fun at the world of the theatre: the Moomins explore an empty theatre and perform Moominpappa’s pompous hexametric melodrama.

In addition to the Moomin novels and short stories, Tove Jansson also wrote and illustrated four original and popular picture books: The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My (1952), Who will Comfort Toffle? (1960), The Dangerous Journey (1977) and An Unwanted Guest (1980). As the Moomins’ fame grew, two of the original novels, Comet in Moominland and The Exploits of Moominpappa, were revised by Jansson and republished.

Critics have interpreted various Moomin characters as being inspired by real people, especially members of the author’s family, and Jansson spoke in interviews about the backgrounds of, and possible models for, her characters.^[7]

Pietilä’s personality inspired the character Too-Ticky in Moominland Midwinter^[4][7] and Moomintroll and Little My have been seen as psychological self-portraits of the artist.^[4][7] Jansson referred to Moomintroll as her alter-ego.^[10]

The Moomins, generally speaking, relate strongly to Jansson’s own family – they were bohemian and lived close to nature. Jansson remained close to her mother until her mother’s death in 1970; even after Tove had become an adult, the two often traveled together, and during her final years Signe also lived with Tove part-time.^[7] Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as portraits of Jansson’s parents.^{[4][7][10][11]}

Other writing[edit]

After Moominvalley in November Tove Jansson stopped writing about Moomins and started writing for adults. Jansson’s first foray outside children’s literature was Bildhuggarens dotter [sv] (Sculptor’s Daughter), a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1968. After that, she wrote five more novels, including Sommarboken (The Summer Book) and five collections of short stories. The Summer Book is the best known of her adult fiction translated into English. It is a work of charm, subtlety and simplicity, describing the summer stay on an island of a young girl and her grandmother. The girl is modelled on her niece, Sophia Jansson; the girl’s father on Sophia’s father, Lars Jansson; and the grandmother on Tove’s mother Signe.^[3]

Wartime satire in Garm magazine[edit]

Tove Jansson worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the Swedish-language satirical magazine Garm from the 1930s to 1953.^[13] One of her political cartoons achieved a brief international fame: she drew Adolf Hitler as a crying baby in diapers, surrounded by Neville Chamberlain and other great European leaders, who tried to calm the baby down by giving it slices of cake – Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc. In the Second World War, during which Finland fought against the Soviet Union, part of the time cooperating with Nazi Germany,^[14] her cover illustrations for Garm lampooned both Hitler and Joseph Stalin: in one, Stalin draws his sword from his impressively long scabbard, only to find it absurdly short; in another, multiple Hitlers ransack a house, carrying away food and artworks. In The Spectator‘s view, Jansson made Hitler a preposterous little figure, self-important and comic.^[12]

Comic strip artist[edit]

Jansson also produced illustrations during this period for the Christmas magazines Julen and Lucifer (just as her mother had earlier) as well as several smaller productions. Her earliest comic strips were created for productions including Lunkentus (Prickinas och Fabians äventyr, 1929), Vårbrodd (Fotbollen som Flög till Himlen‘, 1930), and Allas Krönika (Palle och Göran gå till sjöss, 1933).^[15]

The figure of the Moomintroll appeared first in Jansson’s political cartoons, where it was used as a signature character near the artist’s name. This «Proto-Moomin», then called Snork or Niisku,^[7] was thin and ugly, with a long, narrow nose and devilish tail. Jansson said that she had designed the Moomins in her youth: after she lost a philosophical quarrel about Immanuel Kant with one of her brothers, she drew «the ugliest creature imaginable» on the wall of their outhouse and wrote under it «Kant». This Moomin later gained weight and a more pleasant appearance, but in the first Moomin book The Moomins and the Great Flood (originally Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen), the Immanuel-Kant-Moomin is still perceptible. The name Moomin comes from Tove Jansson’s uncle, Einar Hammarsten: when she was studying in Stockholm and living with her Swedish relatives, her uncle tried to stop her pilfering food by telling her that a «Moomintroll» lived in the kitchen closet and breathed cold air down people’s necks.^[7]
in
In 1952, after Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll had been translated into English, a British publisher asked if Tove Jansson would be interested in drawing comic strips about the Moomins. Jansson had already drawn a long Moomin comic adventure, Mumintrollet och jordens undergång (Moomintroll and the End of the World), based loosely on Comet in Moominland, for the Swedish-language newspaper Ny Tid, and she accepted the offer. The comic strip Moomintroll, started in 1954 in the London Evening News. Tove Jansson drew 21 long Moomin stories from 1954 to 1959, writing them at first by herself and then with her brother Lars Jansson. She eventually gave the strip up because the daily work of a comic artist did not leave her time to write books and paint, but Lars took over the strip and continued it until 1975.

The series was published in book form in Swedish; books 1 to 6 have been published in English, Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip.

Painter and illustrator[edit]

Although she became known first and foremost as an author, Tove Jansson considered her careers as author and painter to be of equal importance. She painted her whole life, changing style from the classical impressionism of her youth to the highly abstract modernist style of her later years. Jansson displayed a number of artworks in exhibitions during the 1930s and early 1940s, and her first solo exhibition was held in 1943. Despite generally positive reviews, criticism induced Jansson to refine her style such that in her 1955 solo exhibition her style had become less overloaded in terms of detail and content. Between 1960 and 1970 Jansson held five more solo exhibitions.^[7]

Jansson also created a series of commissioned murals and public works throughout her career, which may still be viewed in their original locations. These works of Jansson’s included:

• The canteen at the Strömberg factory at Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki (1945)^[7]
• The Aurora Children’s Hospital in Helsinki^[4]
• The Kaupunginkellari restaurant of Helsinki City Hall^[4] – Transferred in 1974 to Helsinki Swedish-language Adult Education Centre «Workers’ Institute» Arbis and in 2016 to a permanent Jansson exhibition at Helsinki Art Museum^[16]
• The Seurahuone hotel at Hamina^[7]
• The Wise and Foolish Virgins altarpiece in Teuva Church (1954)^[7]
• A number of fairy-tale murals in schools and kindergartens including the kindergarten in Pori (1984)^[7]

In addition to providing the illustrations for her own Moomin books, Jansson also illustrated Swedish translations of classics such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit^[17] and Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark^[18] and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland^[19] (some used later in Finnish translations as well). She also illustrated her late work, The Summer Book (1972).

Theatre[edit]

Several stage productions have been made from Jansson’s Moomin series, including a number that Jansson herself was involved in.

The earliest production was a 1949 theatrical version of Comet in Moominland performed at Åbo Svenska Teater.^[7]

In the early 1950s, Jansson collaborated on Moomin-themed children’s plays with Vivica Bandler. In 1952, Jansson designed stage settings and dresses for Pessi and Illusia, a ballet by Ahti Sonninen (Radio tekee murron) which was performed at the Finnish National Opera.^[7] By 1958, Jansson began to become directly involved in theater as Lilla Teater produced Troll i kulisserna (Troll in the wings), a play with lyrics by Jansson and music composed by Erna Tauro. The production was a success, and later performances were held in Sweden and Norway.^[4]

In 1974 the first Moomin opera was produced, with music composed by Ilkka Kuusisto.^[4]

Personal life[edit]

Jansson had several male lovers, including the political philosopher Atos Wirtanen, who was the inspiration for the Moomin character Snufkin. However, she eventually «went over to the spook side» as she put it—a coded expression for homosexuality^{[20][21][22][23]}—and developed a secret love affair with the married theater director Vivica Bandler.^[24]

In 1956 Jansson met her lifelong partner, Tuulikki Pietilä – or «Tooti», as she was known. In Helsinki they lived separately, in neighbouring blocks, visiting each other privately through an attic passageway. In the 1960s, they built a house on a tiny uninhabited island in the Gulf of Finland, 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Helsinki, where they would escape for the summer months.^[25] Jansson’s and Pietilä’s travels and summers spent together on the Klovharu island in Pellinki have been captured on several hours of film, shot by Pietilä. Several documentaries have been made of this footage, the latest being Haru, yksinäinen saari (Haru, the lonely island) (1998)^[26] and Tove ja Tooti Euroopassa (Tove and Tooti in Europe) (2004).^[27] It is speculated that the character Too-ticky, a wise human who wears a red striped shirt and carries a briefcase, was inspired by Pietilä.^[24]

Jansson died on 27 June 2001 at the age of 86 from cancer and is buried with her parents and younger brother Lars, at the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.^{[21][28][29][30][31]}

Family[edit]

• Viktor Jansson (born 1829) married Ida Maria Lemström (born 1842)
  • Julius Viktor Jansson (1862–1892) married Johanna Theresia Karlsson (1864–1938)
    • Viktor Bernhard Jansson (1886–1958) married Signe Hammarsten (1882–1970)
      • Tove Marika Jansson (1914–2001), intimate partnership with Tuulikki «Tooti» Pietilä (1956–until death)^[32][a]
      • Per Olov Jansson (1920–2019)
      • Lars Jansson (1926–2000)
        • Vivica Sophia Jansson (born 1962) married ______ Zambra
          • James Zambra (born 1989)
          • Thomas Zambra (born 1992)^[33]
    • Julius Edvard Jansson (born 1887) married Toini Maria Ilmonen

Cultural legacy[edit]

The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children’s books. Jansson received the writing award in 1966.^[1][2]

In 1968, Swedish public TV, SVT, made a documentary about Tove called Moomins and the Harbor (39 min.).^[34]

Jansson’s books, originally written in Swedish, have been translated into 45 languages.^[36] After the Kalevala and books by Mika Waltari, they are the most widely translated works of Finnish literature.

The Moomin Museum in Tampere displays much of Jansson’s work on the Moomins. There is also a Moomin theme park named Moomin World in Naantali.

Tove Jansson was selected as the main motif in the 2004 minting of a Finnish commemorative coin, the €10 Tove Jansson and Finnish Children’s Culture commemorative coin. The obverse depicts a combination of Tove Jansson portrait with several objects: the skyline, an artist’s palette, a crescent and a sailing boat. The reverse design features three Moomin characters. In 2014 she was again featured on a commemorative coin, minted at €10 and €20 values, being the only person other than the former Finnish president Urho Kekkonen to be granted two such coins.^[37] She was also featured on a €2 commemorative coin that entered general circulation in June 2014.^[38]

Since 1988, Finland’s Post has released several postage stamp sets and one postal card with Moomin motifs.^[39] In 2014, Jansson herself was featured on a Finnish stamp set.^[40]

In 2014 the City of Helsinki honored Jansson by renaming a park in Katajanokka as Tove Jansson’s Park (Finnish: Tove Janssonin puisto, Swedish: Tove Janssons park). The park is located near Jansson’s childhood home.^[41][42]

In March 2014, the Ateneum Art Museum opened a major centenary exhibition showcasing Jansson’s works as an artist, an illustrator, a political caricaturist and the creator of the Moomins. The exhibition drew nearly 300,000 visitors in six months.^[43] After Helsinki the exhibition embarked on a tour in Japan to visit five Japanese museums.^[44][45]

In 2012, the BBC broadcast a one-hour documentary on Jansson, Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson.^[46]

From October 2017 to January 2018, the Dulwich Picture Gallery held an exhibition of Jansson’s paintings, illustrations, and cartoons.^[47] This was the first major retrospective exhibition of her work in the United Kingdom.^[35]

With a new animated series, Moominvalley^[48] broadcast in 2019, Rhianna Pratchett wrote an article about the impact Tove Jansson had had on her father Sir Terry Pratchett; he called Jansson one of the greatest children’s writers there has ever been and credited her writing as one of the reasons he became an author.^[49]

A biopic, titled Tove, directed by Zaida Bergroth was released in October 2020.^[50]

Bibliography[edit]

The Moomin books[edit]

Novels[edit]

• Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (1945, The Moomins and the Great Flood)
• Kometjakten (1946, Comet in Moominland)
• Kometen kommer (1968; reworked edition of Comet in Moominland)
• Trollkarlens hatt (1948, Finn Family Moomintroll; in some editions The Happy Moomins)
• Muminpappans bravader (1950, The Exploits of Moominpappa)
• Muminpappans memoarer (1968, The Memoirs of Moominpappa; reworked edition of The Exploits of Moominpappa)
• Farlig midsommar (1954, Moominsummer Madness)
• Trollvinter (1957, Moominland Midwinter)
• Pappan och havet (1965, Moominpappa at Sea)
• Sent i november (1970, Moominvalley in November)

Short story collections[edit]

• Det osynliga barnet och andra berättelser (1962, Tales from Moominvalley)

Picture books[edit]

• Hur gick det sen? (1952, The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My)
• Vem ska trösta Knyttet? (1960, Who Will Comfort Toffle?)
• Den farliga resan (1977, The Dangerous Journey)
• Skurken i Muminhuset (1980, Villain in the Moominhouse)
• Visor från Mumindalen (1993, Songs From Moominvalley; songbook. With Lars Jansson and Erna Tauro)

Comic strips[edit]

• Mumin, Books 1–7 (1977–1981, Moomin; Books 3–7 with Lars Jansson) (Books 1–6 released in English).^[51]

Other books[edit]

Novels[edit]

• Sommarboken (1972, The Summer Book)
• Solstaden (1974, Sun City)
• Den ärliga bedragaren (1982, The True Deceiver)
• Stenåkern (1984, The Field of Stones)
• Rent spel (1989, Fair Play)

Short story collections[edit]

• Bildhuggarens dotter (1968, Sculptor’s Daughter) (semi-autobiographical)
• Lyssnerskan (1971, The Listener)
• Dockskåpet och andra berättelser (1978, Art in Nature)
• Resa med lätt bagage (1987, Travelling Light)
• Brev från Klara och andra berättelser (1991, Letters from Klara and Other Stories)
• Meddelande. Noveller i urval 1971–1997 (1998 compilation, Messages. Selected stories 1971–1997)
• A Winter Book (2006 compilation)

Miscellaneous[edit]

• Sara och Pelle och näckens bläckfiskar (under the pseudonym of Vera Haij, 1933, Sara and Pelle and the Octopuses of the Water Sprite)
• Anteckningar från en ö (1993, Notes from an Island; autobiography; illustrated by Tuulikki Pietilä)
• Letters from Tove (2019) (personal letters written by Tove, edited by Boel Westin and Helen Svensson)

Awards[edit]

• Hans Christian Andersen Award (gold medal, 1966)^[52]
• Award for State Literature (1963, 1971 and 1982)^[4]
• Swedish Academy Finland Prize (1972)
• Order of the Smile (1975)
• Pro Finlandia Medal (1976)^[4]
• Swedish Culture Foundation Honorary Award (1983)^[53]
• The Finnish Cultural Award (1990)^[53]
• Selma Lagerlöf Prize (1992)^[53]
• The Finland Art Prize (1993)^[53]
• Mercuri International pronssiomena (1994)^[53]
• The Swedish Academy Award (1994)^[53]
• The American-Scandinavian Foundation Honorary Cultural Award (1996)^[53]
• WSOY Literary Foundation Award (1999)^[53]
• Le Prix de l’Office Chrétien du Livre ^[53]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Tove Jansson at www.moomin.com (in Finnish, Swedish, and English)
• Tove Jansson at Schildts (in Finnish and Swedish)
• Tove Jansson and the altarpiece «Ten Virgins» (in Finnish, Swedish, English, and Japanese)
• Tove Jansson at WSOY (in Finnish)
• thisisFINLAND: People – Tove Jansson: writer, painter and illustrator
• The Moomin Trove Comprehensive lists of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books
• Tove Jansson and The Moomin Trove by Finland Travel Club
• Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson (BBC) by Eleanor Yule
• Tove Jansson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Tove Jansson at Library of Congress Authorities, with 91 catalogue records
• Jansson, Tove (1914 — 2001) at National Biographies of Finland
• «Tove Jansson». Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. urn:NBN:fi:sls-4317-1416928956923.