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Tomi Ungerer
Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (German pronunciation: [ˈtoːmi ˈʊŋəʁɐ] ⓘ; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was a French artist and writer from Alsace . He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. Ungerer was known for sharp social satire and witty aphorisms. He is also famous as a cartoonist and designer of political posters and film posters.
Ungerer received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1998 for his "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator.
Ungerer was born on 28 November 1931, in Strasbourg in Alsace, France, the youngest of four children to Alice (Essler) and Theo Ungerer. The family moved to Logelbach, near Colmar, after Theodore—an artist, engineer, and astronomical clock manufacturer—died in 1936. Ungerer also lived through the German occupation of Alsace when the family home was requisitioned by the Wehrmacht.
As a young man, Ungerer was inspired by the illustrations appearing in The New Yorker magazine, particularly the work of Saul Steinberg.
In 1957, the year after moving to the United States, Harper & Row published Ungerer's first children's book, The Mellops Go Flying, and his second, The Mellops Go Diving for Treasure. By the early 1960s, he had created at least 10 children's picture books with Harper, plus a few others, and had illustrated some books by other writers. In 1965, Ungerer designed owl print fabric for Stein-Tex, adapted from his book Various Owls. "I'd love to design clothes, but nobody has asked me," he said.
Ungerer also did illustration work for publications, including The New York Times, Esquire, Life, Harper's Bazaar, The Village Voice, and for television during the 1960s. He later began to create posters denouncing the Vietnam War.
Maurice Sendak called Moon Man (1966) "easily one of the best picture books in recent years." After Allumette: A Fable, subtitled With Due Respect to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and the Honorable Ambrose Bierce in 1974, Ungerer ceased writing children's books, focusing instead on adult-level books, many of which concern sexuality. He eventually returned to children's literature with Flix in 1998. Ungerer donated many of the manuscripts and artwork for his early children's books to the Children's Literature Research Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
A consistent theme in Ungerer's illustrations was his support for European construction, beginning with Franco-German reconciliation in his home region of Alsace, and in particular European values of tolerance and diversity. In 2003, he was named Ambassador for Childhood and Education by the 47-nation Council of Europe.
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Tomi Ungerer
Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (German pronunciation: [ˈtoːmi ˈʊŋəʁɐ] ⓘ; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was a French artist and writer from Alsace . He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. Ungerer was known for sharp social satire and witty aphorisms. He is also famous as a cartoonist and designer of political posters and film posters.
Ungerer received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1998 for his "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator.
Ungerer was born on 28 November 1931, in Strasbourg in Alsace, France, the youngest of four children to Alice (Essler) and Theo Ungerer. The family moved to Logelbach, near Colmar, after Theodore—an artist, engineer, and astronomical clock manufacturer—died in 1936. Ungerer also lived through the German occupation of Alsace when the family home was requisitioned by the Wehrmacht.
As a young man, Ungerer was inspired by the illustrations appearing in The New Yorker magazine, particularly the work of Saul Steinberg.
In 1957, the year after moving to the United States, Harper & Row published Ungerer's first children's book, The Mellops Go Flying, and his second, The Mellops Go Diving for Treasure. By the early 1960s, he had created at least 10 children's picture books with Harper, plus a few others, and had illustrated some books by other writers. In 1965, Ungerer designed owl print fabric for Stein-Tex, adapted from his book Various Owls. "I'd love to design clothes, but nobody has asked me," he said.
Ungerer also did illustration work for publications, including The New York Times, Esquire, Life, Harper's Bazaar, The Village Voice, and for television during the 1960s. He later began to create posters denouncing the Vietnam War.
Maurice Sendak called Moon Man (1966) "easily one of the best picture books in recent years." After Allumette: A Fable, subtitled With Due Respect to Hans Christian Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and the Honorable Ambrose Bierce in 1974, Ungerer ceased writing children's books, focusing instead on adult-level books, many of which concern sexuality. He eventually returned to children's literature with Flix in 1998. Ungerer donated many of the manuscripts and artwork for his early children's books to the Children's Literature Research Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
A consistent theme in Ungerer's illustrations was his support for European construction, beginning with Franco-German reconciliation in his home region of Alsace, and in particular European values of tolerance and diversity. In 2003, he was named Ambassador for Childhood and Education by the 47-nation Council of Europe.