Tove Marika Jansson (August 9, 1914 - June 27, 2001) was the author of, among other works, the world-famous Moomin books.
Jansson was a versatile artist: painter, illustrator, novelist and comic strip author. She was born and died in Helsinki, Finland, and was the daughter of the sculptor Viktor Jansson and the illustrator Signe Hammarsten-Jansson . Her brothers were also artists in different fields. She lived much of her life on a small island in the Gulf of Finland. A Finnish citizen whose mother tongue was Swedish, she was part of the Finland-Swedish minority. Tove Jansson lived with her partner, the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä .
In addition to her own Moomin books Jansson illustrated also other classics like J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she wrote also The summer book.
In 1966 she won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for her contributions to children's literature.
Jansson's Moomin books, originally written in Swedish, have been translated to 33 languages in total. Besides Kalevala and books by Mika Waltari, they are the most translated works of Finnish literature.
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