Тове Янссон: Суретші, жазушы және Мумин әлемінің авторы

Finnish author, illustrator (1914–2001)

Tove Marika Jansson (; 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 Helsinki, Stockholm, and Paris. She held her first solo art exhibition in 1943. Over the same period, she penned short stories and articles for publication, and subsequently drew illustrations for book covers, advertisements, and postcards. She continued her work as an artist and writer for the rest of her life. Jansson wrote the Moomin novel series for children, starting with the 1945 The Moomins and the Great Flood. The following two books, Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll, published in 1946 and 1948 respectively, were highly successful, and sales of the first book increased correspondingly. For her work as a children's author she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966; satirical magazine Garm from 1929 to 1953, when the magazine ceased production. 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, 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 Spectators view, Jansson made both "Hitler and Stalin appear as preposterous little figures, self important and comic". 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, The scholar of literature Björn Sundmark states that Jansson's work helped to define how Tolkien's Middle earth fantasy could be depicted visually. The edition with her illustrations was not reprinted for many years, even though reviewers and "Tolkienists" liked Jansson's "expressive"

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. and feature films.

Jansson had several male lovers, including the political philosopher Atos Wirtanen, and briefly became engaged to him.—and developed a secret love affair with the married theater director Vivica Bandler. In 1956 Jansson met her lifelong partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, known as "Tooti". In Helsinki they lived apart but nearby, so they could meet unnoticed, but this did not resolve the problem that Jansson's mother often came to stay. They found a partial solution by building a house on a small island in the Gulf of Finland, and staying there for the summer. 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) and Tove ja Tooti Euroopassa (Tove and Tooti in Europe) (2004). The character Too ticky, described by Sue Prideaux as "a wild haired artistic troll in a Breton sweater and a beret",

Jansson died on 27 June 2001 at the age of 86.

[[File:Tove Jansson at Dulwich Picture Gallery Poster. jpg|thumb|upright|The first major retrospective exhibition of Jansson's art in the United Kingdom was held at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2017–2018. Jansson's books, originally written in Swedish, have been translated into 45 languages. The Moomin Museum in Tampere displays much of Jansson's work on the Moomins. There is a Moomin theme park named Moomin World in Naantali. In 2012, the BBC broadcast a one hour documentary on Jansson, Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson. A Moominvalley Park opened at Hannō, Japan in 2019. 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. After Helsinki the exhibition embarked on a tour in Japan to visit five Japanese museums. In January 2016, a permanent Tove Jansson exhibition of murals, an oil painting, photographs and sketches opened at the Helsinki Art Museum. The two murals, Party in the Countryside and Party in the City were created for Helsinki City Hall's Kaupunginkellari restaurant. From October 2017 to January 2018, the Dulwich Picture Gallery held an exhibition of Jansson's paintings, illustrations, and cartoons. This was the first major retrospective exhibition of her work in the United Kingdom. A biopic, titled Tove, directed by Zaida Bergroth was released in October 2020.

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