Jean de Brunhoff
Jean de Brunhoff (born December 9, 1899 in Paris , † October 16, 1937 in Montana , Canton of Valais , Switzerland ) was a French children's book author who was best known for the figure of Babar the elephant king .
life and work
Brunhoff was born the son of an art publisher. The family is of Swedish - Baltic origin. In contrast to his brothers, who went into publishing, Jean de Brunhoff dedicated himself to painting. He worked with Othon Friesz , in whose studio he met numerous artists. In 1924 he married the pianist Cécile Sabourad, a doctor's daughter with whom he had three sons; Laurent (* 1925), Mathieu (* 1926) and Thierry (* 1935).
Cécile made up stories for her sons, including that of a little elephant who fled into town from hunters. Jean de Brunhoff used this material to form the content of his first story of Babar, the elephant, for his children.
Jean de Brunhoff died of tuberculosis in 1937 . He is buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. The work on the Babar stories was taken over by Brunhoff's son Laurent, who emigrated to the United States , from where he continued the series.
Works
- Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant , December 1931
- Le Voyage de Babar , October 1932
- Le Roi Babar , December 1933
- Les Vacances de Zéphir , December 1936
- ABC de Babar , July 1934
- Babar en famille , April 1938
- Babar et le Père Noël , December 1941
bibliography
- Nicholas Fox Weber: L'art de Babar: L'œuvre de Jean et Laurent de Brunhoff . Nathan Image 1989.
Web links
- Literature by and about Jean de Brunhoff in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brunhoff, Jean de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French children's author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 9, 1899 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 16, 1937 |
| Place of death | Montana , Canton of Valais , Switzerland |